Join Imagemakers: Crafting Award-Winning Digital Solutions
Are you ready to solve complex problems and create meaningful impact through technology? At Imagemakers, you’ll join a close-knit team of dreamers and problem-solvers based in Wamego, KS—home of the OZ Museum. We’re the wizards behind the curtain for cutting-edge digital experiences, from IoT applications and 3D product configurators to core business software and financial platforms.
This role offers a unique opportunity to bring your expertise to the table, collaborating with top-tier designers, back-end developers, project managers, and strategists. You’ll work across diverse industries like healthcare, entertainment, and government to deliver innovative solutions that address real-world challenges in the digital space.
We’re looking for resourceful, driven individuals who align with our core values—curiosity, grit, and authenticity—and embrace relentless learning and creative collaboration. If you thrive on solving human problems in a digital world and want to grow with a team that values impact over bureaucracy, Imagemakers is your next big opportunity.
Who Should Apply
- Do you love to constantly learn new things? And create new things?
- Do you love being deeply involved in projects and driving the momentum behind each project to see it succeed?
- Are you passionate about delivering technology solutions that solve complex business problems?
- Are you looking for an opportunity to use your experience and talent to help Imagemakers continue to grow and expand our impact?
- Do you love working with a team and using your talents to organize projects to help the team successfully deliver to the delight of our customers?
- Do you want an opportunity to make your mark in an organization that’s small enough to work well together, but large enough to have the resources needed to solve big problems?
- Are you intrigued by new challenges that don’t let the team settle for cookie cutter, system maintenance approaches?
If you answered yes to most of the questions, we want to meet you!
Technical Skills:
WordPress Specific Skills:
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Theme Development: Ability to create custom WordPress themes from scratch using PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
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Plugin Development: Experience developing and customizing WordPress plugins.
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Gutenberg Blocks: Familiarity with building custom blocks for the WordPress Gutenberg editor.
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WordPress REST API: Proficiency in working with the WordPress REST API for creating custom endpoints and integrating with external systems.
Senior WordPress Development:
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Enterprise WordPress Customization:
- Ability to create and customize themes and plugins specifically for enterprise-level requirements.
- Experience working with multisite installations to manage multi-brand or multi-region setups.
- Custom post types, taxonomies, and advanced ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) usage.
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Performance Tuning:
- Expertise in caching strategies (e.g., Varnish, Redis, Memcached).
- Knowledge of CDNs (e.g., Cloudflare, Akamai) and tools for load optimization (e.g., WP Rocket, Query Monitor)
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Security:
- Implementation of enterprise-grade security practices, including vulnerability patching, CSRF/XSS prevention, and secure authentication mechanisms.
- Understanding of WordPress security tools like Wordfence, iThemes Security, or custom solutions for sensitive data.
- Third-Party Integration: Experience integrating enterprise systems such as CRMs (e.g., Salesforce), ERPs, marketing tools, and payment gateways via REST APIs or GraphQL.
PHP Development:
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Proficiency in PHP: Strong understanding of object-oriented PHP and PHP frameworks like Laravel, Symfony, or CodeIgniter.
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Experience with CMS: Deep knowledge of WordPress architecture, theme and plugin development, and customization.
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Database Management: Proficiency in MySQL, including complex queries, performance optimization, and database design.
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Web Technologies: Strong skills in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and familiarity with front-end frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js.
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API Integration: Experience integrating third-party APIs and creating custom APIs.
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Version Control: Proficiency with Git and understanding of version control workflows.
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Security Best Practices: Knowledge of web security standards and practices, including data sanitization and validation.
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Performance Tuning: Experience with caching, load balancing, and other performance enhancement techniques.
Senior PHP Development:
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Advanced PHP Expertise: Strong knowledge of object-oriented PHP, adhering to enterprise coding standards and frameworks like Laravel or Symfony for integration with WordPress.
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Scalable Architecture: Proven ability to design and develop scalable, maintainable, and high-performance PHP-based applications suitable for enterprise needs.
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Database Optimization: Advanced experience with MySQL, including designing normalized databases, writing optimized queries, and understanding database scaling techniques for high-traffic applications.
Development Workflow:
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Version Control: Expertise in Git and experience with team-based branching strategies in enterprise environments.
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CI/CD Pipelines: Proficiency with tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or Bitbucket Pipelines to automate testing and deployments.
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Docker/Containerization: Experience setting up development environments using Docker or Kubernetes.
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Unit Testing: Familiarity with PHPUnit or other testing frameworks to ensure code quality.
Front-End Development:
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Modern Standards: Expertise in front-end development using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (ES6+), and libraries like React or Vue.js for interactive elements.
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Responsive Design: Strong knowledge of creating mobile-first, cross-browser-compatible designs.
- Headless WordPress: Experience with decoupled WordPress setups using REST APIs, GraphQL, or JAMstack.
Professional Experience:
Years of Experience:
- Mid-Level: 3–5 years of hands-on development experience.
- Senior-Level: 5+ years of hands-on development experience with leadership or mentoring exposure.
Project Experience:
- Demonstrated experience in delivering multiple WordPress sites or applications, especially for enterprise or high-traffic environments.
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Agency experience is preferred but not required.
- Experience delivering custom WordPress solutions for large enterprise clients, adhering to strict timelines and budgets.
- Ability to manage high-traffic websites without performance degradation.
- Collaborating with internal teams like design, SEO, and project management for seamless delivery.
Soft Skills:
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Problem-Solving: Ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex issues quickly.
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Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills and experience working in Agile teams.
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Communication: Ability to clearly articulate ideas, technical solutions, and challenges to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
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Mentorship: For senior roles, the ability to mentor and guide junior developers.
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Adaptability: Willingness to learn new technologies or frameworks as required.
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Time Management: Proven ability to plan, prioritize and execute tasks efficiently within given deadlines while maintaining quality.
Senior Soft Skills & Technical Leadership:
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Communication: Strong communication skills, capable of discussing technical details with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, ensuring that all parties understand the project's status, risks, and opportunities.
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Leadership: Acts as a team lead or project lead, often responsible for the team’s output and mentoring less experienced developers.
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Strategic Thinking: Plays a significant role in shaping the technical strategy and ensuring the system’s long-term scalability.
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Innovation and Problem Solving: Looks for innovative solutions, troubleshooting high-level problems, and preventing them before they impact the project.
Preferred Qualifications:
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Certifications: Relevant certifications in PHP, WordPress, or web development.
- DevOps Knowledge:
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- Familiarity with hosting platforms like WP Engine, Kinsta, or Pantheon tailored for enterprise clients.
- Knowledge of cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure.
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SEO/Accessibility:
- Understanding of SEO principles and experience implementing them in WordPress sites.
- Understanding of enterprise-level SEO implementation and accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG compliance).
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Multisite Experience: Experience with WordPress Multisite setup and management.
What’s it like at Imagemakers?
Imagemakers is a close knit team of dreamers and problem solvers. Headquartered in Wamego KS, (home of the OZ museum) we’re the wizard behind the curtain for award winning digital experiences ranging from core business software and engaging websites, to IoT applications, financial portals and platforms, and 3D product configurators. https://www.imagemakers-inc.com/portfolio
Our core values and guiding principles give you insight into what’s important at Imagemakers. Curiosity, grit, resourcefulness, authenticity, making and impact and cultural understanding are the core values that drive our guiding principles.
- Solve the right problem. It’s the best way to deliver solutions that make an impact for our clients and their users.
- Value in every interaction. You’ll see it in the solutions we deliver, and in how we work to get there.
- Everybody benefits in every situation. This is what creative collaboration and focusing on impact does.
- Learn and grow relentlessly. It’s the best way to improve individually and collectively to be amazing.
While day-to-day processes are important, we keep bureaucracy in check to make sure rules and regulations don’t get in the way of our mission to deliver amazing solutions. We’re virtually integrated with flexible hours targeted between 7am and 6pm CST. You’ll work closely with our designers, some of the best backend developers you’ve ever seen, project managers, strategists, clients and vendors. Plus, you’ll get to experience the world through a wide variety of client industries, from tourism and entertainment, to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, retail and government. All focused on solving human problems in a digital world.
Benefits: Health, Dental, Vision, Voluntary Life, Accident, Prepaid Legal, Identity Theft Protection, Company provided - short-term/long-term disability, life insurance, Simple IRA/3% match, PTO and Paid Holidays.
Imagemakers is an equal opportunity employer that embraces the opportunity to build a team representing a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills.