Full stack development
PHP and Laravel applications, bespoke WordPress themes and plugins, APIs and custom content management systems. Built to be useful today and maintainable tomorrow.
Colin Polonowski / Swindon, UK
PHP developer.
Team leader.
Problem solver.
I build dependable websites and help the people behind them do their best work.
An experienced full stack developer and engineering leader, with a background in high-traffic publishing, consultancy and running my own business.
CAREER IN PUBLISHING
Network N MediaFuture plcThe Digital FixPC Gamer
01 / What I do
From the code
to the bigger picture.
I bring hands-on technical experience and a practical understanding of what a business needs from its development team.
Engineering leadership
Leading teams, supporting developers and setting technical direction. I work with product, commercial and senior leadership teams to turn priorities into achievable delivery.
Platforms at scale
Publishing platforms, migrations, monitoring and database optimisation. Keeping busy sites fast and stable while balancing infrastructure costs and long-term platform health.
50%
Lower hosting costs.
Led the replatforming of Network N's main publishing websites, reducing hosting costs by half while improving platform stability and performance.
2021–2023
02 / Experience
Built over time.
Tested in practice.
From writing the code to leading the team, my career has grown around the same thing: making technology work well for people.
Read the full CV PDFNetwork N Media2020–present
Head of Development Team
Senior Developer · Lead Developer · Head of Development
Leading the development team, guiding platform modernisation and the adoption of Laravel, and supporting developers to take ownership of shared systems. Earlier work includes the Constellation e-commerce platform, publishing site migrations and a company-wide monitoring platform.
Future plc2011–2014 / 2014–2020
Senior Developer & Lead Developer
Worked across high-traffic publishing brands and major platform migrations. Led a small development team for gaming and entertainment titles, with work spanning PC Gamer, Gizmodo UK, SFX, Edge and the Golden Joystick Awards.
Poisonous Monkey2006–2021
Founder & Director
Founded and ran a web development business, built Monkey CMS and grew The Digital Fix. Managed development, finances, payroll and day-to-day operations, before the successful sale of the primary website to Network N.
Agency & consultancyAcross my career
Development for clients and partners
Delivered bespoke WordPress functionality at Torpedo Group for clients including Adobe, Fujitsu and the RAF. Other client work includes Media Foundry, Epic Games, Curve Digital and Motorsport Games.
03 / Beyond the day job
Still curious.
Still building.
Retro game development is another outlet for the same curiosity that got me into programming.
I enjoy working with older hardware and its constraints: thinking carefully about performance, making the most of limited resources and getting something playable on screen.
Outside development, my interests include film, technology, writing and digital media.
04 / Get in touch
Let's talk.
For development, technical leadership or a conversation about your next project.
colin@polonowski.com
Based in Swindon, Wiltshire, UK.