Lead WordPress Developer for Fast-Growing Pet Company (Remote/Worldwide)

Filled
March 3, 2026
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Job Description

Company: Pangolia
Location: Remote (Worldwide)
Position Type: Full-Time

About Pangolia

We are Pangolia, one of the fastest-growing pet companies, with a mission to become the biggest and most helpful pet company in the world. Our largest sites — Catster.com, Dogster.com, Hepper.com, and PangoVet.com — attract more than 36 million pet lovers annually. We are in a phase of rapid growth, and we need a Lead Web Developer to help us scale and innovate.

We are a 100% remote company, offering you the freedom to work from anywhere while making a huge impact. Our team of 30+ talented professionals is committed to improving the lives of pets and their owners, and we want you to join us in this mission!

Role Overview

As the Lead Web Developer, you will play a pivotal role in fixing issues, proactively keeping our sites secure, and building new features for our WordPress-based sites. This position is primarily focused on backend development, where you’ll have the opportunity to optimize performance, improve security, and build new features that will be used by millions of pet lovers.

You’ll lead a small team and have the responsibility to hire, manage, and review code as the department grows.

Key Responsibilities

  • Backend Development: Develop, test, and maintain new features for our high-traffic WordPress sites using PHP, MySQL, and other tools.
  • Team Leadership: Hire and manage 1-2 developers within the next 3-4 months. Conduct code reviews and offer mentorship.
  • Site Optimization: Make our sites the fastest loading websites in the pet niche while improving SEO, reducing ad load, and enhancing user experience.
  • E-commerce Development: Enhance the Hepper.com e-commerce experience, optimizing checkout pages, category pages, product listings, and data analytics.
  • Security & Maintenance: Conduct scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance and security updates. Protect our sites from malware, hackers, and other risks.
  • Collaboration: Work closely with the marketing, content, and design teams to implement development requests and troubleshoot issues.
  • Documentation: Create and update technical documentation, QA procedures, and contribute to development processes.

Required Skills and Qualifications

  • Backend Proficiency: Strong experience with PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and WordPress development (themes, plugins, hooks, filters, plugin API).
  • Build Tools: Experience with Webpack, ViteJS, and Composer.
  • Version Control: Proficiency in Git and comfortable with GitHub.
  • Troubleshooting: Expertise in finding and fixing CSS and JavaScript conflicts and other backend issues.
  • Security & Performance: Experience ensuring site security and optimizing site performance.
  • Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly in a remote team environment.
  • Self-Starter: Ability to take ownership of projects and deliver on deadlines with minimal supervision.

The Type of Person We’re Looking For

  • Dependable and friendly communicator who thrives in a remote work environment.
  • Problem-solver with a passion for writing clean, understandable, and maintainable code.
  • Self-motivated and able to take initiative and see projects through to completion.
  • Curious and growth-oriented, always learning new modern practices and staying updated with WordPress trends.
  • Capable of managing multiple projects and handling various side tasks each week.

Why Join Pangolia?

  • Remote Work: Work from anywhere in the world. Enjoy the flexibility of setting your own schedule.
  • Growth Opportunities: Get the chance to grow with an innovative, fast-growing company and develop leadership skills.
  • Impactful Work: Build tools and features used by millions of pet lovers around the world.
  • Team Collaboration: Join a diverse, passionate team of 80 professionals who work hard and collaborate well.
  • Company Perks:
    • Paid company retreats (We’ve been to Phuket, Thailand!)
    • 21 days of paid time off every year.
    • Co-working space support for those who prefer not to work from home.
    • Bi-weekly pay.
    • Opportunity for career growth and bonus incentives.