WP Engine’s mission to energy confidence on-line depends on the dedication and experience of greater than 1,000 world staff.
The mixed effort of our whole crew—from the WordPress assist specialists troubleshooting technical challenges to the engineers driving innovation throughout our instruments and applied sciences to the passionate professionals pouring their abilities into our Company Accomplice Program—ensures the continued development and success of WP Engine and our clients alike.
Our Meet the Specialists collection shines a light-weight on the people who carry this mission to life by their work day by day.
On this characteristic, we’re excited to introduce Liam Gladdy, a Senior Software program Engineer residing in Bristol whose work is pivotal to enhancing the Superior Customized Fields (ACF) plugin and sustaining our inner APIs and companies.
Say howdy to Liam!
Meet Liam Gladdy, a seasoned developer with a ardour for WordPress who’s been utilizing WP Engine for a few years—even earlier than turning into a part of our crew.
He’s a self-professed “open-source nerd” who spends simply as a lot time engaged on open-source tasks outdoors work as he does when he’s clocked in. When he’s not coding, you will discover Liam…effectively, at dwelling, at present.
“I lately purchased my first home, so I’m in a crash course for all of the family upkeep duties I’ve by no means needed to fear about earlier than,” he jokes.
“I can inform I’m going to turn out to be obsessive over how good my garden appears to be like!”
Liam’s profession journey
Liam’s profession began at an company the place he was first launched to WP Engine, as the corporate selected us as the inspiration for a lot of of their shoppers’ WordPress websites.
He joined Scrumptious Brains in 2021 as one of many two lead builders constructing Superior Customized Fields, certainly one of WordPress’s hottest plugins. When WP Engine acquired Scrumptious Brains in 2022, he discovered himself at dwelling with an organization that values deep technical experience and group contribution.
As a Senior Software program Engineer, Liam brings greater than 12 years of hands-on expertise with ACF to his position. Most of his day by day obligations give attention to enhancing ACF—a colossal undertaking spanning greater than 150,000 traces of code—and he has taken on extra work optimizing our inner APIs and companies to make sure WP Engine websites keep up-to-date and safe.
All through his profession, Liam has discovered that constructing software program for others requires extra than simply technical know-how; it calls for a holistic view of how customers work together with know-how.
“It’s straightforward to construct one thing in isolation and suppose it’s excellent,” he says, “however whereas your code may fit precisely as you need, customers will nearly definitely wish to use it in several methods you’ve not thought-about.”
Working intently with the distinctive user-experience consultants and product designers on the ACF crew has helped him embrace a collaborative method that components each performance and usefulness into each new replace.
When requested what he loves most about working at WP Engine, Liam is fast to level to the individuals. He recollects that transitioning from the small crew at Scrumptious Brains to a bigger group was initially daunting, however that the real respect and belief he felt—from the colleagues he collaborates with day by day all the best way as much as CEO Heather Brunner—shortly put him relaxed.
“The assist and open dialogue right here make me assured to share my views on any undertaking,” he says,
“Regardless of working remotely, our tradition of assist and communication helps maintain everybody linked.”
Phrases of knowledge: Choose your battles
Probably the greatest items of recommendation Liam ever obtained was to “choose his battles” by working towards the artwork of collaboration.
He spent a lot of his early profession working solo, which meant he acquired used to doing issues his personal approach. Transitioning to a collaborative surroundings taught him the worth of trusting others’ strategies and interesting in constructive debate—important classes that information his work to this present day.
“After I joined Scrumptious Brains, I used to be immediately surrounded by consultants within the discipline who all had their very own approach of working. I shortly discovered that to work to be a crew, I needed to put belief within the crew,” he says.
“Then, on the events while you do must push again on one thing, your crew trusts that you just’re coming from a spot of bettering the product—not simply pushing to get your individual approach.”
For aspiring consultants in any sort of know-how, and particularly for these with a ardour for open-source tasks, Liam has some recommendation. Particularly, he recommends taking the time to look to the longer term and discover trendy applied sciences.
“Observe the tendencies and keep forward of what’s coming subsequent,” says Liam.
“Headless is turning into extra necessary to many enterprises, and WordPress is a wonderful CMS to make use of as a backend for a headless undertaking. So, in the event you’re excited about future-proofing your abilities, it’s price understanding instruments like Subsequent.js and Faust.js.”
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Liam’s in depth experience and dedication to steady studying make him a useful asset to WP Engine and his work on ACF contributes to a richer expertise for all WordPress customers. In case you’re contemplating a profession at WP Engine, Liam has encouragement for anybody to take the leap!
“We have now such a variety of engineering roles at WP Engine due to the breadth of the programs and companies we work with, so there’s actually a task for everybody,” he says.
Wish to discover out extra about what it’s prefer to work at WP Engine? Go to our careers website to discover present openings and take a look at our weblog for extra inspiring tales from WP Engine’s consultants!
