Lead Web Developer

Nteractive; Staines-upon-Thames; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Pension scheme

Private medical insurance

Life insurance

Birthday day off

Wellbeing initiatives

Volunteering day

Job summary

Nteractive in the United Kingdom is recruiting a Lead Web Developer to take ownership of Hive, our in-house operations platform built with Laravel and Livewire. You will drive its next growth stage, shaping architecture, performance, and integration with key systems.

This is a hands-on, build-and-scale role where you own the roadmap, mentor peers, and collaborate with stakeholders across finance, HR, and delivery to deliver robust production software.

Qualifications

• Extensive PHP/Laravel backend development experience.
• MySQL relational database design and optimization.
• Proven track record leading production applications end-to-end.

Responsibilities

• Own Hive development, maintenance, and roadmap.
• Build features in response to evolving business needs.
• Design and maintain database architecture and backend logic.
• Lead deployments and release processes.
• Mentor other developers as the team scales.

Skills

Laravel

Livewire

PHP

Backend engineering

MySQL

API integrations

Deployment workflows

Senior developer

Bootstrap

AI features

Tools

Laravel Forge

DigitalOcean

Job description

About Nteractive

At Nteractive, we create and deliver world-class experiences for global brands through events, creative production, and digital innovation. Technology sits at the core of how we operate, and our internal platforms play a critical role in keeping our business connected, efficient, and scalable.

About Nteractive

At Nteractive, we create and deliver world-class experiences for global brands through events, creative production, and digital innovation. Technology sits at the core of how we operate, and our internal platforms play a critical role in keeping our business connected, efficient, and scalable.

We’re now looking for a Lead Web Developer to take ownership of Hive, our in-house operations platform, and shape its next stage of growth.

About Hive

Hive is a Laravel + Livewire platform that powers our day-to-day operations, connecting resourcing, finance, HR, time tracking, identity, and increasingly AI-driven workflows. Built in-house, it’s already business-critical — and now needs dedicated ownership to evolve it further.

This is not a maintenance role. It’s a build, scale, and improve opportunity. You’ll take full ownership of the platform, drive its technical direction, and help shape how it grows across the business.

What You'll Be Doing

Ownership & Development

• Take full ownership of the development, maintenance, and roadmap of Hive
• Build and ship new features in response to evolving business needs
• Design and maintain database architecture and backend logic
• Develop and maintain Livewire and Bootstrap-based front end
• Own integrations with key systems and APIs across the business
• Manage deployments, environments, and release processes (staging + production)

Engineering & Architecture

• Monitor platform performance, stability, and security
• Introduce and maintain automated testing across critical paths
• Improve scalability, structure, and long-term maintainability of the system
• Set coding standards and technical best practices
• Document architecture, systems, and processes to reduce single-point dependency

Collaboration & Growth

• Translate business needs into practical, well-engineered solutions
• Work closely with stakeholders across the business to understand requirements
• Support future expansion of the development capability as the team grows
• Mentor or guide other developers over time as the function scales

What You Will Bring

• Strong experience with Laravel (v12 preferred) and Livewire
• Excellent PHP development skills and strong backend engineering capability
• Solid understanding of MySQL and relational database design
• Experience with queues, jobs, and scheduled/background processing
• Front-end experience with Bootstrap 5
• Proven experience owning and running a production application end-to-end
• Experience with API integrations across SaaS platforms and internal systems
• Familiarity with deployment workflows (e.g. Laravel Forge, DigitalOcean, staging/production environments)
• Experience operating as a senior or lead developer, setting technical direction
• Bonus: exposure to LLM/AI features (e.g. Anthropic API or similar)

Why you'll love working here

• You'll take true ownership of a core internal platform used across the entire business
• You'll have the freedom to shape architecture, tooling, and technical direction
• You'll work directly with stakeholders across operations, finance, HR and delivery teams
• You'll see the real-world impact of your work immediately across live business processes
• You'll join a fast-growing, global creative and events agency where tech is becoming increasingly central
• You'll be supported to grow into a wider leadership role as the development function expands

Benefits

• 33 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays)
• Hybrid working with flexibility
• Pension Scheme (5% employee / 3% employer contribution)
• Private Medical Insurance & Cash Plan
• Life Insurance
• Enhanced Maternity Pay
• Wellbeing & Inclusion initiatives (including EAP)
• Birthday Day Off
• Summer Hours
• Volunteering Day
• Rewards & Recognition incentives
• Generous Employee Referral Scheme

Other Requirements

• Quiet home working environment
• Ability to attend the office occasionally for collaboration and key meetings
• Minimum 25MB download / 2MB upload broadband
• Willingness to travel internationally when required