Development Manager

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. 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'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.

💡 Interested in applying?

🔍 Please read/follow the next steps outlined in "How to Apply" at the bottom of this listing.

Attention to detail is one of our core values! This is your chance to stand out :)

To love this role, here’s the type of person you are:

• 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.

Common responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

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.

Requirements:
Technical Requirements

• 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.

Leadership Requirements

• 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.

Basic Requirements

• Personal Computer with Internet Access.
• Availability to participate in audio/video meetings between 9am and 5pm ET.

Bonus points if you also have:

• Experience with React, Vue.js, or other modern JavaScript frameworks.
• Experience scaling WordPress to handle millions of users.
• Track record of significant open-source contributions or WordPress core contributions.
• Experience with microservices and distributed systems.
• Background in SaaS platforms and subscription-based products.
• Experience with performance optimization at scale.
• Experience integrating AI/ML features into WordPress plugins or SaaS products.
• Previous experience in a player-coach role at a high-growth company.
• Track record of building and scaling engineering teams from scratch.

Benefits:
Working for a fast-growing bootstrapped company is a rare opportunity, one we consider a lifestyle choice rather than a job choice. Our positions are challenging, but also come with amazing advantages and fulfillment to those who earn them. Here’s what we offer.

• Competitive Salary.
• Term Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment for all full-time team members during their employment.
• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance benefits for full-time U.S. employees.
• Health Insurance benefits for all employees in Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain, and Ukraine.
• Work from your home. We’re spread out all over the world – United States, Canada, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Singapore, and more.
• Flexible PTO after 90 days of employment. We encourage employees to take the time they need for a vacation, stay healthy, and spend time with friends and family.
• Holidays (based on your location)
• Paid Parental Leave.
• We happily provide or reimburse software you’ll need as well as books or courses that promote continued learning.
• We cover all costs of company travel (including our annual all-company retreat and mini-team meetups).
• Additional Perks include AM Welcome Box for new team members, Yearly Anniversary Gifts, and Technology Stipend each work anniversary.
• We give you the opportunity to solve challenging and meaningful problems that make a difference.
• Ability to work with some of the best people in the business through frequent, if not daily, interactions.
• And in case you were wondering: no politics, no b.s., and no jerks.

Location
This is a remote position - our team is spread around the globe! 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.

Inclusion Statement
At Awesome Motive, we strive to have the broadest possible view of diversity, going beyond visible differences to include the background, experiences, skills, and perspectives that make each person unique. Awesome Motive is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law.

How to apply?
If all of this sounds interesting, then please submit your application!

Please clearly include the following in your cover letter:

• 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