{"id":156764,"date":"2025-05-20T16:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T21:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/?p=156764"},"modified":"2025-05-21T09:28:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T14:28:03","slug":"meet-the-experts-liam-gladdy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/meet-the-experts-liam-gladdy\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Experts: Liam Gladdy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WP Engine<\/a>\u2019s mission to power confidence online relies on the dedication and expertise of more than 1,000 global employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The combined effort of our entire team\u2014from the WordPress support<\/a> specialists troubleshooting technical challenges to the engineers driving innovation across our tools and technologies to the passionate professionals pouring their talents into our Agency Partner Program<\/a>\u2014ensures the continued growth and success of WP Engine and our customers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Meet the Experts series<\/a> shines a light on the individuals who bring this mission to life through their work every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this feature, we\u2019re excited to introduce Liam Gladdy, a Senior Software Engineer living in Bristol whose work is pivotal to improving the Advanced Custom Fields<\/a> (ACF) plugin and maintaining our internal APIs and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Say hello to Liam!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meet Liam Gladdy, a seasoned developer with a passion for WordPress who\u2019s been using WP Engine for many years\u2014even before becoming part of our team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s a self-professed \u201copen-source nerd\u201d who spends just as much time working on open-source projects outside work as he does when he\u2019s clocked in. When he\u2019s not coding, you can find Liam\u2026well, at home, currently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI recently bought my first house, so I\u2019m in a crash course for all the household maintenance tasks I\u2019ve never had to worry about before,\u201d he jokes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can tell I\u2019m going to become obsessive over how good my lawn looks!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liam\u2019s career journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Liam\u2019s career started at an agency where he was first introduced to WP Engine, as the company chose us as the foundation for many of their clients\u2019 WordPress sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He joined Delicious Brains<\/a> in 2021 as one of the two lead developers building Advanced Custom Fields, one of WordPress\u2019s most popular plugins. When WP Engine acquired Delicious Brains in 2022, he found himself at home with a company that values deep technical expertise and community contribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Senior Software Engineer, Liam brings more than 12 years of hands-on experience with ACF to his role. Most of his daily responsibilities focus on enhancing ACF\u2014a colossal project spanning more than 150,000 lines of code\u2014and he has taken on additional work optimizing our internal APIs and services to ensure WP Engine sites stay up-to-date and secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his career, Liam has learned that building software for others requires more than just technical know-how; it demands a holistic view of how users interact with technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to build something in isolation and think it\u2019s perfect,\u201d he says, \u201cbut while your code may work exactly as you want, users will almost certainly want to use it in different ways you\u2019ve not considered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working closely with the exceptional user-experience experts and product designers on the ACF team has helped him embrace a collaborative approach that factors both functionality and usability into every new update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what he loves most about working at WP Engine, Liam is quick to point to the people. He recalls that transitioning from the small team at Delicious Brains to a larger organization was initially daunting, but that the genuine respect and trust he felt\u2014from the colleagues he collaborates with daily all the way up to CEO Heather Brunner\u2014quickly put him at ease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe support and open dialogue here make me confident to share my views on any project,\u201d he says, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite working remotely, our culture of support and communication helps keep everyone connected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words of wisdom: Pick your battles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the best pieces of advice Liam ever received was to \u201cpick his battles\u201d by practicing the art of collaboration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spent much of his early career working solo, which meant he got used to doing things his own way. Transitioning to a collaborative environment taught him the value of trusting others\u2019 methods and engaging in constructive debate\u2014essential lessons that guide his work to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I joined Delicious Brains, I was suddenly surrounded by experts in the field who all had their own way of working. I quickly learned that to work to be a team, I had to put trust in the team,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen, on the occasions when you do need to push back on something, your team trusts that you\u2019re coming from a place of bettering the product\u2014not just pushing to get your own way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For aspiring experts in any kind of technology, and specifically for those with a passion for open-source projects, Liam has some advice. Specifically, he recommends taking the time to look to the future and explore modern technologies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFollow the trends and stay ahead of what\u2019s coming next,\u201d says Liam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHeadless is becoming more important to many enterprises, and WordPress is an excellent CMS to use as a backend for a headless project. So, if you\u2019re interested in future-proofing your skills, it\u2019s worth understanding tools like Next.js and Faust.js.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powered by people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Liam\u2019s extensive expertise and commitment to continuous learning make him an invaluable asset to WP Engine and his work on ACF contributes to a richer experience for all WordPress users. If you\u2019re considering a career at WP Engine, Liam has encouragement for anyone to take the leap!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have such a wide range of engineering roles at WP Engine because of the breadth of the systems and services we work with, so there\u2019s really a role for everyone,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to find out more about what it\u2019s like to work at WP Engine? Visit our careers site<\/a> to explore current openings and check out our blog for more inspiring stories from WP Engine\u2019s experts!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WP Engine\u2019s mission to power confidence online relies on the dedication and expertise of more than 1,000 global employees.  The combined effort of our entire team\u2014from the WordPress support specialists troubleshooting technical challenges to the engineers driving innovation across our tools and technologies to the passionate professionals pouring their talents into our Agency Partner Program\u2014ensures…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":153638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[454,122,411],"tags":[1492],"class_list":["post-156764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","category-culture","category-finely-tuned-expert","tag-meet-the-experts"],"yoast_head":"\nMeet the Experts: Liam Gladdy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In our Meet the Experts 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