Senior WordPress Engineer – Headless

JR United Kingdom; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading digital media group is seeking a Senior WordPress Engineer in Manchester for a hybrid role. The position involves developing scalable headless WordPress solutions while collaborating with a forward-thinking team to implement modern web architecture. Ideal candidates will have strong backend skills, experience with REST APIs, PHP, and a passion for creating performance-optimized, secure applications.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in headless WordPress development.
• Deep knowledge of PHP (7/8) and WordPress core.
• Experience with REST APIs and WPGraphQL.

Responsibilities

• Build high-traffic, content-heavy sites with modern architecture.
• Ensure performance and security through optimization techniques.
• Collaborate with engineers across the UK and Europe.

Skills

Headless WordPress

PHP

REST APIs

GraphQL

Custom theme/plugin development

Performance optimization

Docker

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Senior WordPress Engineer – Headless

Location: Manchester (Hybrid, occasional office visits, once a month)

Full-time, Permanent

I'm working with a leading digital media group investing heavily in their web platform. They’re seeking a Senior WordPress Engineer with strong backend skills, especially in headless WordPress at scale.

This role involves building high-traffic, content-heavy sites using modern, scalable architecture and development practices. Expect API-first, JAMstack, CI/CD pipelines, and containerized environments.

You will join a forward-thinking team prioritizing high engineering standards, DevOps, performance, and security. Your experience with custom plugins, GraphQL, REST APIs, and advanced PHP will be crucial for developing robust, reusable services across multiple sites and teams.

Collaborating closely with engineers across the UK and Europe, you'll help roll out the next generation of their platform.

Requirements:

• Extensive experience in headless WordPress development (enterprise experience preferred)
• Deep knowledge of PHP (7/8) and WordPress core
• Experience creating and integrating with REST APIs and WPGraphQL
• Custom theme/plugin development for headless use
• Experience with ACF, CPTs, taxonomies
• Secure API handling (OAuth, JWT) and authentication best practices
• Performance optimization skills including query tuning, caching, CDN strategies
• Familiarity with Docker, Git, and modern CI/CD pipelines
• Ability to deliver clean, frontend-ready APIs (React, Next.js or similar)
• Knowledge of JAMstack and scalable, API-first design

Location & Working Setup:

The team is based in London, Peterborough, or Manchester. The role offers hybrid/remote working with office visits approximately once every 4–6 weeks.

If you're passionate about headless WordPress, modern architecture, and writing clean, reliable code, this could be a great fit.