Senior Lead Developer (Full Stack WordPress) – Hachette UK

Some of the websites that we developed in this project: carlosruizzafon.co.uk, cressidacowell.co.uk, tom-holland.org, iain-banks.net …

Duration: April 2019 – March 2020
Location: London, United Kingdom

Cobianzo Co. oversaw the maintenance and development of a custom WordPress-based platform supporting over 30 websites. This bespoke platform extended WordPress far beyond a standard installation, incorporating an in-house multisite feature and managing complex relationships between entities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Database Integration: Enabled seamless synchronization of Hachette’s extensive book catalog from the external Biblio database through a RESTful API connection and scheduled cron jobs.
• Custom Development: Adapted and extended platform functionality through custom plugins and modules, ensuring scalability and alignment with publishers’ requirements.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Acted as a key liaison with publishers, gathering requirements and translating them into tailored solutions within the platform’s capabilities.
• Global Team Coordination: Worked closely with Alley Co., a US-based partner, to ensure consistent and efficient development workflows across teams.
• Code Quality Assurance: Delivered high-quality code reviewed and approved by WordPress VIP, adhering to strict standards for enterprise-grade WordPress hosting.

Technologies and Tools:

• Core Skills: WordPress API, OO PHP, JavaScript, Sass, CSS.
• Development Standards: Stylelint, PHP Code Sniffer.
• Version Control: Git.
• API Integration: RESTful API for external database communication.

This project emphasized a high level of technical expertise, collaboration, and the ability to deliver complex solutions within a fast-paced publishing environment, ensuring that the platform met the evolving needs of one of the world’s largest publishing groups.