Lead Developer - Site & Performance
Summary
Lead a team of WordPress developers at Are Media in Sydney, owning the technical direction of the WordPress platform behind major Australian media brands. Day to day: improve performance (Core Web Vitals, caching, CDNs), solve AdTech challenges, and deliver paywalls, personalisation and video — using WordPress, PHP, JavaScript and React.
The Role
Shape the future of the WordPress platform powering some of Australia's most recognised media brands!
At Are Media, we're looking for a Lead Developer who combines deep WordPress expertise with hands-on engineering and strong people leadership to drive the performance, scalability and evolution of our digital platforms.
Reporting to the Head of Engineering & Technology Operations, you'll lead a team of developers, setting technical direction and driving engineering excellence across our WordPress ecosystem. You'll play a key role in our digital growth strategy, modernising our platforms, improving site performance and advertising experiences, and helping shape the future of our technology.
What you’ll be doing
- Lead, mentor and develop a team of WordPress developers, building technical capability and establishing strong engineering, code review and delivery standards.
- Own the technical direction and development of Are Media's WordPress platform, improving architecture, security, caching, database health, performance and scalability.
- Drive platform optimisation and innovation, improving Core Web Vitals, resolving complex site performance and AdTech challenges, and leading the technical assessment of WordPress VIP.
- Partner with Content, Audience, AdTech, Data and Technology teams to deliver scalable digital solutions spanning paywalls, personalisation, video, advertising and improved user experiences.
About you
We’re looking for someone who brings:
- Extensive WordPress development experience, including multisite environments, custom themes and plugins, Gutenberg and component-based architecture, supported by strong PHP, JavaScript, React and API expertise.
- Proven technical and people leadership, with experience mentoring developers, setting engineering standards and leading the delivery of high-quality digital products in Agile environments.
- Strong performance engineering and AdTech expertise, including Core Web Vitals, caching, CDNs, browser diagnostics and digital advertising technologies such as Google Ad Manager, Prebid or header bidding.
- A collaborative and solutions-focused approach, with strong knowledge of databases, application security and modern development practices, and the ability to translate complex technical challenges into practical solutions. Experience with paywalls, memberships or personalisation platforms will be highly regarded.