Senior Software Developer

• Location:Hybrid, with three days per week at our Solihull office
• Hours:Full time, Monday–Friday, 8:30am–5:00pm
• Holidays:26 days plus bank holidays, increasing with service

iKnow Software develops web applications and a companion mobile app that help thousands of churches and organisations manage their communities, communication, donations and safeguarding.

We’re looking for an experienced Senior Full Stack Developer to help enhance our existing products and build new features.

You’ll own work from technical planning through to implementation, testing and deployment to our development environment for QA. You’ll report directly to a hands-on Development Manager and collaborate with developers, design and QA colleagues.

AI is embedded in our development workflow, supporting planning, implementation and testing. Your coding ability and engineering judgement will be essential to evaluating that work and delivering reliable software.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Designing and delivering module migrations, product improvements and new features.
• Making sound decisions about architecture, maintainability, performance and security.
• Reviewing code and AI-generated plans, identifying weaknesses and correcting implementations.
• Writing and validating tests, investigating failures and verifying the finished behaviour.
• Diagnosing technical issues and improving system performance.
• Deploying changes to our development environment so they are ready for QA.
• Developing and maintaining our in-house AI skills and workflows.
• Managing your tasks, reporting progress and raising risks early.

You’ll have scope to propose improvements and discuss changes to technical approaches, delivery plans and scope with your manager.

• Backend:PHP, Laravel and an existing CodeIgniter 3 codebase.
• Database:MySQL.
• Infrastructure:AWS, including EC2, S3 and CloudFront; Apache, PHP-FPM and Docker.
• Collaboration:GitHub, ClickUp and Figma.
• AI development:Claude Code, Codex and Cursor.

What You’ll Bring

We’re looking for a capable engineer who understands the systems they build and can take responsibility for the quality of their work.

• At least five years’ commercial development experience working with other developers.
• Solid hands-on experience with Laravel, React, PHP and MySQL.
• Strong coding and system design skills, including the ability to understand and improve an existing codebase.
• A practical approach to debugging and problem-solving: investigating root causes, assessing options and verifying solutions.
• Experience diagnosing performance problems using appropriate tools.
• Solid understanding of server configuration, including Apache and PHP-FPM.
• Strong testing practices and the ability to assess whether tests meaningfully verify the intended behaviour.
• Experience with React Native or mobile app development would be an advantage.

Working with AI

• The ability to critically review AI-generated plans, code and tests, and resolve problems using your own technical understanding.
• Awareness of model access boundaries, permissions and the safe use of code, data and connected tools.
• Experience using, creating and maintaining an in-house set of AI skills.
• Ability to select and use AI models, tools and skills effectively for different development tasks.
• Experience building workflows with subagents and reviews across different models.
• Experience integrating plugins, connectors and third-party tools into development workflows.
• An active interest in keeping your knowledge of AI development tools up to date.

You’ll also be comfortable working independently, communicating clearly and keeping colleagues informed about progress and blockers.

Working Here

You’ll join a small, collaborative team where your work has a visible impact and you can contribute directly to how our products evolve.

We provide:

• AMacBook.
• CompanyAI team plans, with additional credits available to support ongoing development.
• One learning day each monthfor work-related learning and development.
• Your birthday offwhen it falls on a working day.
• 26 days’ holiday plus bank holidays, increasing to 28 days after two years and 30 days after five years.
• A10-week paid sabbatical after 10 years.
• An annual paid eye test and a £49 contribution towards glasses if required.
• A complimentary mini-valet for your car every two months.
• An additional paid day off in the following quarter when the development team achieves at least 80% of its quarterly objectives.