At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the development of our in-house platform, Hive, and drive its growth.
- Company: Join Nteractive, a global creative agency at the forefront of digital innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy 33 days annual leave, hybrid working, private medical insurance, and more.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team that values innovation and collaboration.
- Why this job: Take ownership of a core platform and see your impact across the business.
- Qualifications: Strong Laravel and PHP skills, with experience in backend engineering and API integrations.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
About Nteractive
At Nteractive, we create and deliver world-class experiences for global brands through events, creative production, and digital innovation. Technology sits at the core of how we operate, and our internal platforms play a critical role in keeping our business connected, efficient, and scalable.
We’re now looking for a Lead Web Developer to take ownership of Hive, our in-house operations platform, and shape its next stage of growth.
About Hive
Hive is a Laravel + Livewire platform that powers our day-to-day operations, connecting resourcing, finance, HR, time tracking, identity, and increasingly AI-driven workflows. Built in-house, it’s already business-critical — and now needs dedicated ownership to evolve it further. This is not a maintenance role. It’s a build, scale, and improve opportunity. You’ll take full ownership of the platform, drive its technical direction, and help shape how it grows across the business.
What you'll be doing
- Ownership & Development
- Take full ownership of the development, maintenance, and roadmap of Hive
- Build and ship new features in response to evolving business needs
- Design and maintain database architecture and backend logic
- Develop and maintain Livewire and Bootstrap-based front end
- Own integrations with key systems and APIs across the business
- Manage deployments, environments, and release processes (staging + production)
- Engineering & Architecture
- Monitor platform performance, stability, and security
- Introduce and maintain automated testing across critical paths
- Improve scalability, structure, and long-term maintainability of the system
- Set coding standards and technical best practices
- Document architecture, systems, and processes to reduce single-point dependency
- Collaboration & Growth
- Translate business needs into practical, well-engineered solutions
- Work closely with stakeholders across the business to understand requirements
- Support future expansion of the development capability as the team grows
- Mentor or guide other developers over time as the function scales
What you will bring
- Strong experience with Laravel (v12 preferred) and Livewire
- Excellent PHP development skills and strong backend engineering capability
- Solid understanding of MySQL and relational database design
- Experience with queues, jobs, and scheduled/background processing
- Front-end experience with Bootstrap 5
- Proven experience owning and running a production application end-to-end
- Experience with API integrations across SaaS platforms and internal systems
- Familiarity with deployment workflows (e.g. Laravel Forge, DigitalOcean, staging/production environments)
- Experience operating as a senior or lead developer, setting technical direction
- Bonus: exposure to LLM/AI features (e.g. Anthropic API or similar)
Why you'll love working here
- You’ll take true ownership of a core internal platform used across the entire business
- You’ll have the freedom to shape architecture, tooling, and technical direction
- You’ll work directly with stakeholders across operations, finance, HR and delivery teams
- You’ll see the real-world impact of your work immediately across live business processes
- You’ll join a fast-growing, global creative and events agency where tech is becoming increasingly central
- You’ll be supported to grow into a wider leadership role as the development function expands
Benefits:
- 33 days annual leave (including bank holidays)
- Hybrid working with flexibility
- Pension scheme (5% employee / 3% employer)
- Private Medical Insurance & Cash Plan
- Life Insurance
- Enhanced maternity pay
- Wellbeing & Inclusion initiatives (including EAP access)
- Birthday day off
- Summer hours
- Volunteering day
- Rewards & recognition incentives
- Generous employee referral scheme
Other requirements
- Quiet home working environment
- Ability to attend the office occasionally for collaboration and key meetings
- Minimum 25MB download / 2MB upload broadband
- Willingness to travel internationally when required
If you’re looking for a role where you can truly own a platform, shape its future, and build something that sits at the heart of a growing global events business, we’d love to hear from you.
About us
We are Experience Architects with an ambition to cultivate client trust and brand value. We are a people first agency where our passion and boundless collaboration combine to deliver excellence for our clients. We are commercially aware and drive value for our clients and Nteractive by seeking efficiencies and cost effectiveness without compromising the creative vision. We are forward thinking and constantly pushing ahead for ourselves and our clients. We are specialists in the technology sector. We create incredible live brand experiences – the sort that really make a difference. Experiential marketing campaigns, product launches, conferences, incentive programmes, exhibitions, VIP experiences, store launches, hospitality programmes, digital campaigns, brand films, internal communications programmes and much more.
Our Commitment
We eagerly seek individuals who bring diversity of background, experience, and thought to create an engaging work environment, foster innovation and better understand and meet the needs of our users. We encourage people from underrepresented and/or marginalized backgrounds, including BIPOC, LatinX, LGBTQ+, women, and people with disabilities, to apply.
Lead Web Developer - PHP/Laravel/Full Stack in Staines employer: Nteractive
At Nteractive, we pride ourselves on being a people-first agency that fosters a collaborative and innovative work culture. As a Lead Web Developer, you'll enjoy the freedom to shape our in-house operations platform, Hive, while benefiting from a generous 33 days of annual leave, hybrid working flexibility, and robust employee support initiatives. Join us in a fast-growing global creative agency where your contributions will have an immediate impact across live business processes, and where opportunities for personal and professional growth are abundant.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Web Developer - PHP/Laravel/Full Stack in Staines
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Nteractive or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Nteractive.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Nteractive.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Nteractive that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Lead Web Developer - PHP/Laravel/Full Stack in Staines
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Nteractive.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Nteractive and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Nteractive
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Nteractive uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
