Salary: £35,000
We’re looking for a Liverpool-based Web Developer to join Poke Marketing and take a leading role in bringing our web development capability in-house.
This is a new and important role for Poke. Until now, much of our development work has been delivered through a network of freelancers and external partners. We’re changing that, and we’re looking for someone who wants the opportunity to take ownership of our web development output, raise the bar and help shape how we build websites in the future.
You’ll inherit a portfolio of around 20–30 live websites, while also working alongside our creative and marketing teams to design, develop and launch new sites for Poke and our clients.
We’re not looking specifically for a “WordPress Developer”. We’re looking for a great web developer who knows WordPress well, understands modern web development and cares about building websites that look brilliant, perform brilliantly and are built properly.
The opportunity
This is much more than a role maintaining an existing collection of websites.
You’ll have the chance to establish how web development is done at Poke: the technologies we use, our development standards, our approach to hosting and deployment, how we improve performance and security, and how ambitious creative ideas get translated into excellent digital experiences.
You’ll work closely with award-winning creatives, designers, marketers and client teams, taking projects from initial concept through to launch and ongoing optimisation.
We want someone who enjoys being handed a great creative idea and working out how to make it even better on the web.
What you’ll be doing
- Taking ownership of the development and technical health of approximately 20–30 existing websites.
- Designing, developing and launching new websites for Poke and our clients.
- Working extensively with WordPress, while being comfortable recommending and using other technologies where they make more sense.
- Translating designs and creative concepts into responsive, polished and engaging digital experiences.
- Improving the performance, accessibility, security and maintainability of our existing website portfolio.
- Managing WordPress core, plugin and dependency updates and ensuring sites remain secure and reliable.
- Developing custom functionality, themes, components and integrations where required.
- Working with APIs and third-party platforms including CRM, marketing, analytics and other business systems.
- Establishing sensible development standards, reusable components and processes that make future builds faster and better.
- Improving our approach to version control, staging, testing, deployment, backups and disaster recovery.
- Working closely with designers and creatives to ensure the finished product lives up to the original creative ambition.
- Advising colleagues and clients on technical possibilities, limitations and opportunities.
- Helping Poke decide when to build something ourselves, use an existing solution or bring in specialist expertise.
- Taking pride in the detail from page speed and responsive behaviour to the interactions that make a website feel properly finished.
What we’re looking for
You’ll be a reasonably experienced web developer with a strong track record of building and managing production websites.
You don’t need to define yourself as a WordPress specialist, but you do need significant hands-on WordPress experience and the confidence to take responsibility for an established portfolio of WordPress sites.
We’re interested in someone with strong fundamentals, good judgement and an appetite to keep learning than someone who can tick every technology box.
The person
The right person will combine technical ability with a genuine appreciation for design and creativity.
You’ll care about the difference between a website that simply “works” and one that feels exceptional.
You’ll also be comfortable taking ownership. As we bring development in-house, there won’t always be an established Poke way of doing something. Part of your job will be to help create it.
You’ll probably be someone who:
- Takes pride in producing high-quality work.
- Has a strong eye for detail and respects great design.
- Enjoys solving problems rather than simply following specifications.
- Can communicate technical subjects clearly to non-technical people.
- Is comfortable managing multiple websites and priorities.
- Knows when to challenge an approach and can suggest a better one.
- Is pragmatic; you know when something needs engineering properly and when a simpler solution is the right answer.
- Is curious about new technologies without chasing every new trend.
- Wants genuine ownership of their work.
Why Poke?
This is an opportunity to join Poke at an interesting point in our development.
You won’t be joining an established development department and disappearing into a large engineering team. You’ll be helping us build our in-house development capability and define what great web development looks like at Poke.
You’ll get to work alongside talented, award-winning creatives on a wide variety of brands and projects, with the freedom to influence the technology and standards behind the work.
For someone who wants autonomy, variety and the opportunity to make a visible impact, it’s an exciting role.