Back End Developer

Good backend development turns lines of code into something that actually works — an app, an integration, a website that quietly does clever things in the background. In e‑commerce, that background work is where a lot of the value (and the revenue) lives.

Most retailers don’t have the skills to make their systems talk to each other — they can’t wire up the third party that runs their warehouse, their subscriptions, their ERP or their loyalty programme, and the data ends up stranded where it’s no use to anyone. That’s where we come in — and increasingly, it’s the kind of work we want to do more of.

So this time we’re after a backend developer: someone who’s comfortable in the server‑side, cares about a well‑structured database, and enjoys the challenge of making two systems that were never designed to talk to each other work together.

This company is an award‑winning e‑commerce development agency and Shopify Platinum Partner, based in Norwich. We work with scale‑hungry DTC and retail brands, from traditional retailers who want the whole thing managed for them, through to some genuinely weird and wonderful businesses who just want a seamless way to get people to buy their products.

We’re busy, we’ve got ambitious growth plans, and alongside our Shopify build work we’re diversifying into application development and a few other fun areas when the project’s right for the studio. That’s exactly the kind of work this role leans into.

You’ll report to the Head of Development and the Senior Backend Developer, working as part of the dev team. This is a hands‑on build role — focused on writing great backend code, not managing people. As a Shopify Platinum Partner, much of your work will centre on the Shopify ecosystem: building the integrations and backend services that sit in and around our clients’ stores.

You’ll be the person we point at the harder server‑side problems. In a nutshell, your duties and responsibilities will be -

• Building and maintaining backend systems in PHP and Laravel — custom functionality, internal tools, application work and the bits of client projects that go beyond the theme.
• Designing and building third‑party API integrations — connecting Shopify and our clients’ wider tech stacks (ERPs, PIMs, subscription platforms, warehouses, loyalty, payment providers and the rest).
• Database design and management — sensible table structures, migrations, and data that’s modelled to last.
• Handling data transposition, migration and integration work as part of build and replatforming projects.
• Assisting the development team with software design, code and problem‑solving across projects.
• Writing clean, documented, testable code — documentation comes as standard with your work here.
• Working on bug fixes and helping keep the codebase healthy.
• Attending and contributing to development meetings, and giving the Head of Development / PM team honest estimations and milestone updates.
• Engaging with clients where needed — explaining the technical side in human language and telling us what we need from them to move a project forward.
• Occasionally rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck into our internal projects (we build our own tools too).

We’re after a solid, effective mid‑level developer who can hit the ground running and add real value — this is a growth role off the back of some recent project wins and expanding accounts. It’s not a junior position, so we do need to see demonstrable commercial experience — ideally two to four years working with PHP — but you don’t need to be at senior level.

This is a great step for someone ready to take on meatier backend and integration work.

If you’ve been an in‑house backend dev seeking more variety in your projects and fancy trying agency life? Brilliant — this could be a great match.

• Solid, demonstrable experience with PHP and Laravel — this is the core of the role.
• Strong MySQL and relational database skills: table design, infrastructure and implementation best practice.
• Experience with background jobs and queues (Laravel Horizon) — a lot of our integration work runs on these.
• A habit of writing automated…