Development Manager, Awesome Motive

• We need someone who demonstrates extreme ownership, operates with high agency, and takes full accountability for both team outcomes and individual deliverables
• The ideal candidate doesn't just manage work - they do the work
• You embody extreme ownership - when something needs to be done, you take charge and deliver results
• You operate with high agency - you identify problems, create solutions, and execute without constant oversight
• You're a player-coach who leads from the front, and by example
• You're an excellent communicator, fluent in both verbal and written English, who ensures transparency and clarity in all interactions
• You take pride in both your individual contributions and your team's success - you measure yourself by both metrics
• You mentor through pair programming and code reviews, not only meetings and presentations
• You can give and receive critical feedback constructively and act on it quickly
• You're passionate about building both great products and great teams
• You are more than capable of leading Teams of Teams
• Proven work experience in web development, 7+ years
• Hands-on engineering leadership experience, 3+ years
• Strong proficiency in PHP (modern PHP 7+/8+), 5+ years
• Experience with Laravel or other modern PHP frameworks
• Experience leveraging AI-powered coding assistants to accelerate development workflows and improve code quality across the team
• Extensive experience with WordPress plugin development, 4+ years
• Expert-level understanding of JavaScript (ES6+), HTML5, CSS3
• Deep experience with MySQL, database optimization, and scaling
• Mastery of software design patterns, SOLID principles, and clean architecture
• Proven track record of shipping production code regularly while in a leadership role
• Experience with Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps practices
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Strong experience with RESTful APIs and third-party integrations
• Demonstrated ability to debug and solve complex technical problems independently
• Proven experience leading engineering teams while maintaining individual contribution
• Track record of mentoring developers and improving team capabilities
• Ability to make autonomous decisions and take full accountability for outcomes
• Experience balancing technical debt with feature delivery
• Ability to manage special projects while maintaining a high level of collaboration with the Project Management function
• Experience working in fast-paced, high-growth environments
• Ability to keep complex ideas and features simple. (Simplicity is a core value!)
• English at the upper intermediate level or higher
• Experience leading fully remote, distributed teams
• Personal Computer with Internet Access
• Availability to participate in audio/video meetings between 9am and 5pm ET
• Our home base is in Florida, USA, so company operating hours are 9am - 5pm ET (UTC -5). While full coverage is not a requirement, you must be available during a portion of the day

Desirable

• As an Development Manager at Awesome Motive, you'll join the WPForms team as a hands-on technical leader who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty
• This is not your typical management role - we're looking for someone who thrives as both a leader and an individual contributor
• We are looking for an Development Manager who can seamlessly switch between writing production code, architecting solutions, and leading a team of talented developers
• You'll be expected to maintain individual contributions while also driving team excellence, mentoring developers, and ensuring our WordPress plugins deliver exceptional quality to millions of users worldwide
• This is a hybrid role where you'll spend approximately 40-50% of your time on hands-on technical work and 50-60% on leadership and management responsibilities
• You are equally comfortable doing both and adjusting the split based on the number of direct/indirect reports
• You'll be in the codebase daily, leading by example, and setting and maintaining the high technical bar
• You should be comfortable jumping into complex problems, writing code alongside your team, and making technical decisions with confidence and autonomy while maintaining a high degree of collaboration with the Product Manager
• Leadership (50-60% of your time):
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of developers through hands-on collaboration
• Facilitate technical discussions
• Remove blockers and shield the team from distractions while maintaining productivity
• Drive hiring decisions and help build a world-class engineering team
• Establish and maintain development processes that enable high-velocity delivery
• Collaborate with Product, QA, and Design teams to ensure alignment
• Take full ownership of team deliverables and deadlines - no excuses
• Foster a culture of extreme ownership and high agency within your team
• Technical leadership (40-50% of your time):
• Write production-quality code for critical features and complex problems
• Architect technical solutions and make key technical decisions
• Ability to evaluate, implement, and establish best practices for AI tools adoption to enhance team productivity while maintaining code ownership and security standards
• Lead by example through hands-on coding, debugging, and problem-solving
• Perform code reviews and ensure code quality standards are exceeded
• Optimize performance and scalability for millions of WordPress users
• Drive technical excellence through direct contribution to the codebase
• Prepare and review technical design documents (Pitches) for major features
• Troubleshoot and resolve the most challenging technical issues through direct involvement

• Please clearly include the following in your cover letter:
• Describe a time when you demonstrated extreme ownership by taking charge of a critical situation without being asked. What was the outcome?
• Tell us about the most complex technical problem you've personally solved while in a leadership role
• Have you led any major technology migrations, platform upgrades, or system modernizations? Briefly describe
• Tell us about a time where you had to make trade-offs between shipping speed and shipping the perfect solution - what compromises did you make?
• Share an example of a high-agency decision you made that significantly impacted your team or product
• Describe a time when you had to make a difficult product or technical decision autonomously. How did you approach it?
• Links to your GitHub profile showing recent commits, portfolio, or any open-source contributions
• Alongside your cover letter, we would also really appreciate a 2-minute video introducing yourself and answering the following questions:
• Tell us a bit about yourself and why you should be considered the top candidate for this position
• Details about your experience (especially WordPress), qualifications, personality, etc., are very helpful
• What percentage of your time do you currently spend writing code vs. managing? What's your ideal ratio?
• Also note, don't forget to proofread before submitting. Check spelling, capitalization, etc. This is your chance to make your application stand out :)
• We won’t be able to individually respond to all applications, but if we feel you’re a strong match, someone will be in touch shortly
• Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!