Senior Developer

We're looking for a talented Developer to join our multi-award-winning Leeds agency. You'll work on high-performance web apps, using PHP and Laravel within a supportive, growth-focused team.

Tech: Laravel, SQL, JavaScript, WordPress, APIs

Introduction

Twilo Creative is excited to celebrate ten years of multi-award-winning innovative websites and impactful marketing campaigns. As we stride into our second decade, we're looking to expand our team with a Senior Developer to support both Twilo and its clients in delivering robust, scalable, and high-performing digital solutions.

With a collaborative team and a great mix of clients, this role is ideally suited to somebody who respects coding standards, follows company procedures, and is highly productive in delivering projects that drive client success.

As a business we are ambitious and are working to a clear roadmap to success, which we continue to achieve with shared ambition and determination to deliver best-in-class products we can be proud of.

Benefits

Twilo's loyalty program rewards top performers with private medical insurance, life cover, will writing and additional leave entitlement, which are offered after hitting key milestones.

We offer a unique 'learning hour' which gives employees 50 hours p/a for personal development, as well as a monthly group learning session where we share experience and further refine our skills. We use external consultants who work with us both individually and as a team to develop soft skills such as time management and communication – we don't need an 'Investor In People' badge to invest in our people

We have a project catch up every morning and this includes Show & Tell on a Monday, as well as daily scrums to keep projects on track and clients informed.

We work to a hybrid working model (2-3 office days per week).

You'll be part of a business which is collaborative, with a shared goal of delivering best-in-class websites and applications.

As a small yet highly skilled team, we take the time required to get recruitment right – check out our socials and the monthly updates in our blog to get a feel for the team and culture. We are a fairly social group, with recent team building days including go-karting and other games.

If your experience aligns with this role and you'd bring a positive energy, we'd love to speak with you

Vision & Ambition

At Twilo, we place a lot of emphasis on personal development. We'll ask you to map out your vision in terms of your own personal development, which will help us support you in your role. You'll also consider how this impacts other members of the team, including providing support to colleagues and delivering against operational procedures that bring efficiency to back-end development processes.

While ambition is valued, we prioritise productivity and a commitment to delivering high-quality code that adheres to coding standards and company procedures. Your focus will be on contributing to the team's success through reliable and efficient project delivery.

Back-End Development

· System Design & Implementation

• Develop and maintain scalable, secure, and high-performing back-end systems using PHP, SQL, and optionally JavaScript to support Twilo's websites and digital products, including custom apps, WordPress and e-commerce platforms.
• Design and implement APIs (e.g., REST), use frameworks like Laravel or other MVC frameworks to enable seamless communication between front-end and back-end systems.
• Build and optimise database structures (SQL-based) to ensure efficient data storage, retrieval, and management, leveraging tools like PHPMyAdmin.

· Code Quality & Standards

• Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code that adheres to company coding standards and best practices, ensuring high-quality output.
• Conduct code reviews to ensure consistency and quality across the development team, using tools like VSCode or Sublime for development.
• Implement unit tests and integration tests to ensure system reliability and performance, with a focus on debugging and problem-solving.

· Performance Optimization

• Monitor and optimise server-side performance, identifying bottlenecks and areas for improvement using tools like WHM/cPanel or similar server management software.
• Optimise database queries and server configurations to reduce latency and improve scalability.
• Use FTP and other tools to manage file transfers and deployments efficiently.

· Security & Compliance

• Implement security best practices to protect sensitive data and prevent vulnerabilities (e.g., SQL injection, XSS) in all back-end systems.
• Ensure compliance with relevant data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR) in database design and system architecture.
• Stay updated on emerging security threats and incorporate protective measures accordingly.

· Collaboration & Integration

• o Work closely with front-end developers, designers, and marketers to integrate back-end systems with user-facing components, ensuring seamless functionality.
• o Collaborate with the team to define technical requirements and ensure alignment with project goals.
• o Stay ahead of industry trends, platform updates, and emerging technologies to keep Twilo's tech stack modern and efficient.

Projects

Using our project management software, you'll keep things super organised, ensuring briefs are understood and followed inline with client expectations. You'll contribute to project planning with other developers by providing time estimates, breaking down development timelines, and keeping stakeholders updated at all times. Your focus on productivity and problem-solving will ensure projects are delivered on time and to a high standard.

Tools & Procedures

You'll have a say in the software and development tools used to achieve the best results for our clients, including VSCode, Sublime, XCode, WHM/cPanel, PHPMyAdmin, MxToolbox, and FTP. As a results-driven business, the team has creative freedom in how we achieve those results. You will implement the tools and frameworks, such as Laravel or other MVC frameworks, needed to meet project requirements and maintain a deep understanding of system performance and reliability.

Caring and sharing

You'll be proactive in sharing your knowledge, skills, and experience with the wider team, particularly in areas like debugging, database design, and coding standards. Identifying opportunities to upskill colleagues is a valued trait at Twilo, and we encourage you to contribute to our collaborative culture. Regular code reviews and knowledge-sharing sessions will help maintain high standards and ensure we're always delivering robust solutions for our clients.

We value good, honest, straightforward people. A lot of hard work has gone into building a team who work well together, and we'll be looking for you to share our values as the agency continues to go from strength to strength.

You'll share in our success, taking part in our reward schemes (such as our Bright Points rewards) which helps recognise colleagues who have gone out of their way to help others.

Client Success

Good communication is the basis for excellent customer service. You may wish to attend client meetings with other members of the development team, reply to client emails the same day, turn up to meetings early, and follow up the same day. We also provide weekly updates to clients so they always know what's going on, making them feel super valued.

Summary

Twilo is an established agency with a great reputation. We're well drilled in delivering high performing websites and digital marketing campaigns for clients who we value dearly.

We're looking for a Back-End Developer with a minimum of 5 years' experience in back-end development, proficient in PHP, SQL, and preferably JavaScript, with expertise in Laravel, MVC frameworks, WordPress, and e-commerce platforms. You will integrate well with the wider development team, share in our values, and be part of something much bigger than any one individual. We want you to become a vital part of the team, helping colleagues deliver on project goals through robust and efficient back-end systems.

• Dedicated 50+ hrs personal learning time
• Private healthcare, life cover, income protection
• Flexible hybrid model (Leeds office 2–3 days)
• Creative freedom in tool choice
• Collaborative, respectful culture
• Driven and ambitious team
• PHP
• Laravel
• SQL
• JavaScript
• WordPress
• WHM/cPanel
• MVC frameworks

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: £36,000.00-£45,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company events
• Company pension
• Free parking
• Health & wellbeing programme
• Life insurance
• On-site parking
• Private dental insurance
• Private medical insurance
• Work from home

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Leeds LS1: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Experience:

• Web development: 8 years (preferred)

Work Location: In person