Lead Developer

MarkupMarvel; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Senior compensation

Architecture influence

Production shipping culture

Mentorship with authority

Long-term client relationships

Job summary

MarkupMarvel is seeking a Lead Developer to own technical decisions across client projects. You will work hands-on with Laravel, Next.js, headless WordPress, and Shopify, architecting solutions, reviewing code, and mentoring the development team.

This senior role involves working with US/UK clients on scoping, architecture, and delivery, sitting between hands-on coding and technical leadership. Onsite relocation to Ottawa is expected for this role.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional development experience, backend and frontend.
• Strong expertise in Laravel and PHP for backend API development.
• Experience with Next.js, React, and headless WordPress via WPGraphQL.
• Comfortable architecting API integrations across Laravel, WordPress, and Shopify.
• Experience leading or mentoring a small development team.
• Clear client-facing English communication and collaboration.
• Onsite — based in or able to relocate to our office location.

Responsibilities

• Architect full-stack solutions across Laravel, Next.js, and headless WordPress.
• Design API integrations connecting WordPress, Shopify, and Laravel backends.
• Review pull requests and enforce code quality standards across the team.
• Mentor mid-level and junior developers on architecture and best practices.
• Participate in technical scoping calls with clients and translate requirements into timelines.
• Own performance optimisation across client projects, including Core Web Vitals and caching strategy.
• Make final calls on technology choices for new projects.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Architectural design

Client communication

English communication

Tools

Laravel

PHP

Next.js

React

WPGraphQL

WordPress Headless

Shopify

Vercel

CI/CD

API Integrations

Job description

Job Overview

MarkupMarvel is hiring a Lead Developer to take technical ownership across our client projects. You’ll work hands-on with headless WordPress, Next.js, Laravel, and Shopify — architecting solutions, reviewing code, and mentoring the development team.

Job Overview

MarkupMarvel is hiring a Lead Developer to take technical ownership across our client projects. You’ll work hands-on with headless WordPress, Next.js, Laravel, and Shopify — architecting solutions, reviewing code, and mentoring the development team.

This is a senior technical role for someone who wants to own decisions, not just execute tickets. You’ll work directly with US/UK clients on scoping, architecture, and delivery — this role sits between hands-on coding and technical leadership.

What You’ll Do

• Architect full-stack solutions across Laravel, Next.js, and headless WordPress
• Design API integrations connecting WordPress, Shopify, and custom Laravel backends
• Review pull requests and enforce code quality standards across the team
• Mentor mid-level and junior developers on architecture and best practices
• Participate in technical scoping calls with clients — translating requirements into realistic timelines
• Own performance optimisation across client projects — Core Web Vitals, database queries, caching strategy
• Make final calls on technology choices for new projects

Requirement

• 5+ years of professional development experience, including backend and frontend work
• Strong expertise in Laravel and PHP for backend API development
• Solid experience with Next.js, React, and headless WordPress via WPGraphQL
• Comfortable architecting API integrations across Laravel, WordPress, and Shopify
• Experience leading or mentoring a small development team
• Strong understanding of performance optimisation and Core Web Vitals
• Clear communication skills for direct client interaction in English
• Onsite — based in or able to relocate to our office location

Nice to Have

• Experience with Shopify Plus or custom Liquid theme development
• Familiarity with Vercel and CI/CD deployment pipelines
• Prior experience in a technical lead or engineering manager role
• Contributions to open-source projects or a public GitHub history

What We Offer

• Senior compensation reflecting real technical ownership
• Direct influence over architecture and tooling decisions company-wide
• A team that ships to production regularly — not stuck in endless planning cycles
• Mentorship responsibility with real authority, not just a title
• Long-term client relationships, not one-off project churn