Ryan Jarrett
Lead WordPress Specialist & Full Stack Architect
[email protected] linkedin.com/in/ryanajarrett Sittingbourne, Kent, UK
Professional summary
Lead WordPress Specialist and Full Stack Architect with over 20 years of experience architecting, modernising, and scaling enterprise WordPress platforms. Proven track record delivering custom WordPress themes, custom plugin architectures, REST API integrations, and Cloudflare edge performance for national media organisations and central government departments. Specialist in WordPress performance tuning, headless setups, PHP, Node.js, and marketing tool integrations.
Core competencies
- WordPress Expertise
- Custom Theme & Plugin Development, Custom Post Types, Gutenberg / Block Development, Headless WordPress, Multisite Architecture, WP REST API
- Backend & Languages
- PHP (Modern PHP, OOP, Custom MVC), Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, MySQL Query & Transients Optimisation, REST APIs
- Cloud & Infrastructure
- Cloudflare (Edge Logic, Page Rules, Caching), AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda, CloudFront), Docker, CI/CD Pipelines (GitHub Actions, CircleCI)
- Marketing & Search
- Technical SEO, Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), Structured Data / Schema, HubSpot Integrations, GA4, GTM, Cookie Management
Professional experience
RAG application work (Motorclue), alongside a mix of freelance client engagements: platform migration and performance recovery for a digital agency client, headless WordPress/Next.js development for an EdTech platform, post-migration SEO recovery for a music retailer, and ongoing WordPress maintenance and event-related development for a live events company. Also building the DecomPress plugin suite for WordPress agencies, and shipping TS/React AI/RAG demos to stay current.
Led migration of 8-site publishing estate from external agency to in-house AWS serverless infrastructure, zero downtime. Grew the estate 50% and traffic 120%, cut costs ~15%, supported 2,300+ concurrent users/min via multi-layer caching (RDS optimisation, object caching, Cloudflare full-page caching). Built/led distributed team (UK + Kosovo). MongoDB/GraphQL used in headless WordPress switch.
Led modernisation of global HE web properties, legacy → modular React-based architecture. Coordinated multiple offshore development teams.
Led backend development for a large, high-traffic WordPress multisite (The Tab and babe.net) reaching millions of monthly readers: query, transient and object-cache optimisation, plus AWS infrastructure (EC2, S3, Elastic Beanstalk) and CircleCI pipelines. Also built and ran a separate web application for the network's student editors, alongside Node.js microservices and interactive campaign tools.
The Times: rewrote legacy codebase into structured MVC form, site-wide caching for high-priority news cycles, headless WordPress + Angular front-end. MoJ: architected themes/plugins/API suite for government-wide intranet to GDS compliance and security standards.