UK Based OpenCart Developer (In-House) — Ecommerce Web Developer

A well-established UK supplier of commercial catering and refrigeration equipment is seeking a UK based Open Cart Developer, with a busy ecommerce operation serving restaurants, hotels, bars, care homes and professional kitchens nationwide, and growing international ambitions. Our websites are the heart of the business, and after another strong year we are expanding our in-house team. We are bringing our website development and hosting fully in-house. Until now this has sat with an external agency, and we are ready to own our platform end to end: faster changes, better performance, lower cost and complete control. This is an exciting new role and a rare chance to take full ownership of a high-traffic ecommerce platform. The Role As our in-house OpenCart Developer you will be responsible for developing, maintaining and improving our ecommerce website across frontend and backend development, implementation, testing, deployment and ongoing support. You will take the site over from our current agency, migrate it onto our own server, and then run and develop it day to day. You will work alongside our ecommerce and marketing team, and with selected third-party partners where needed. This role would suit someone with strong OpenCart coding experience, a practical problem-solving approach, and the ability to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical colleagues. It is a hands-on, high-autonomy role for someone who enjoys owning a platform rather than being one cog in a large team. Key Responsibilities Develop, customise and maintain OpenCart functionality across our ecommerce website, frontend and backend. Build custom OpenCart modules and modifications without altering OpenCart core code, using OCMOD and the modification system. Integrate OpenCart with third-party and in-house services using the OpenCart REST API and other web APIs. Work confidently with OpenCart's MVC(L) architecture: controllers, models, libraries and the event and hook system. Configure and maintain OpenCart's theme, template and layout layer, including Twig templates. Develop and support frontend functionality using JavaScript, jQuery, AJAX and the OpenCart theme system. Use CSS preprocessors such as SCSS, SASS or LESS to support maintainable frontend development. Plan and carry out the migration of the site from our current managed host onto our own server, with zero disruption to trading. Manage the server and hosting: setup, security, SSL, backups, monitoring, uptime and performance tuning. Improve site speed, stability and Core Web Vitals, and keep the platform secure and up to date. Build and maintain product feeds to Google Merchant Center and Shopping, payment gateways, and links to our order management, stock and accounting systems. Troubleshoot and resolve issues with new and existing custom code. Work closely with marketing, other stakeholders and third-party resources to enhance functionality and improve conversion. Work independently when required, taking ownership of assigned development tasks from brief through to deployment. Use Git for version control and contribute to a clean, controlled development workflow. Work within Docker-based development environments. Document the setup so the platform stays understood and maintainable. The Successful Candidate At least 5 years of OpenCart development experience (version 3, and ideally 4). Strong experience with PHP, OpenCart custom development and object-oriented development. Experience creating custom OpenCart modules and modifications without modifying core code. Experience integrating with REST and other web APIs, including third-party and in-house services. Good understanding of OpenCart's MVC(L) structure, event and hook system, and extension development. Good understanding of OpenCart's theme, template and layout system, including Twig. Experience with JavaScript and libraries including jQuery and AJAX. Experience using CSS preprocessors such as SCSS, SASS or LESS. Good understanding of HTML5, CSS3 and responsive design standards. Linux server administration: LAMP or LEMP stacks, Apache or Nginx, SSL, cron, backups and basic security hardening. Experience migrating a live website between hosts or servers without downtime. Experience using version control systems, with Git preferred. Excellent troubleshooting, planning and problem-solving skills. A real passion for ecommerce and best-practice web development. Able to work effectively with marketing, developers and third parties, as well as independently. Additional Desirable Skills Experience with Docker-based development environments. Experience with MySQL performance tuning, Elasticsearch or advanced site search. Experience with Google Merchant Center and Shopping feeds, and fixing feed or product data issues. Integrations with order management, warehouse or accounting systems, for example Mintsoft, StockTrim, QuickBooks, or an ERP such as Odoo. Multi-store, multilingual or multi-currency setups, as we have international growth plans. Experience with modern or headless frontends and API-led builds on OpenCart. Marketplace integrations such as Amazon or eBay. Good understanding of technical SEO and site performance. What We Offer The chance to own a busy ecommerce platform outright, with real autonomy and influence. A key, visible role in a growing business, not a small part in a large team. Hybrid working, with time in our Treorchy office and the flexibility to work from home. A supportive team that values the website as central to the business.