Manuel Perez.
RoleSenior Full-Stack Engineer
CurrentMarket Forces, since 2020
BasedSydney, Australia

Full-stack ownership. End to end.

I own web platforms end to end — architecture, security, accessibility, uptime — for organisations that can't afford to get any of it wrong.

View my work →
Currently engaged — Market Forces, ongoing since 2020
15+
Years shipping
Security
Cybersecurity practitioner
AA/AAA
WCAG delivered
3
Concurrent engagements

Approach

I’ve spent my career on platforms that can’t afford to get it wrong — not creatively, operationally. Six years at Greenpeace. Five and counting at Market Forces. Stockee, built alone from the ground up, still mine to run years later.

The thread isn’t one technology — it’s accountability. Being the person answering for the whole thing, for years at a time.

Ownership

Sole engineer, most of the time. No team to hand pieces off to — if something breaks, I'm the one explaining why.

Security

Cybersecurity practitioner. Trained in penetration testing. Co-authored Market Forces' cybersecurity policy. Applied practice — not a resume line.

Accessibility

WCAG AA and AAA aren't optional when you're building for a disability advocacy organisation. I hold every platform to that bar.

Experience

6 roles, 2007 — present
01

Market Forces

Website Manager

Own development, performance, security and uptime across the organisation's high-traffic climate campaign platforms.

  • Build and maintain custom WordPress plugins and themes; enforce coding standards through structured code review and documentation.
  • Integrated Stripe, HubSpot, Campaign Monitor, and analytics (GA4, GTM, GSC).
  • Built a secured Python/Django backup tool that mirrors Xero, HubSpot, Campaign Monitor and website data to on-premise storage, removing a recurring external cloud-backup cost.
  • Co-developed the organisation's cybersecurity policies and guidelines against Australian Government cybersecurity guidelines; conducts system audits.
  • Optimised performance, WCAG AA accessibility, SEO metadata and structured data across all properties.
Dec 2020 — Present
Ongoing
02

Stockee

Full-Stack Developer

Sole engineer on a cloud-based retail SaaS platform — permanent part-time through Dec 2022, freelance since. Built and maintained the entire stack.

  • Vue.js/Next.js frontend, Laravel API, and AWS infrastructure (EC2, RDS, S3).
  • Architected and deployed Node.js and Python Lambda microservices on AWS serverless for scalable async processing.
  • Built complex Next.js/TypeScript admin dashboards using AG Grid — custom cell renderers, dialogs, CSV upload flows, role-based access control.
  • Implemented JWT authentication, privilege management, and org-scoped API queries across the Laravel backend.
  • Set up disaster recovery, monitoring and 24/7 availability; introduced CI/CD pipelines for automated deploys.
Jun 2018 — Present
Freelance, ongoing
03

Intuition SofTech Australia

Lead Software Engineer

Direct software architecture and DevOps pipelines for client projects spanning full-stack web and cloud deployment.

  • Mentor developers in secure coding, CI/CD automation, and cloud deployment strategies.
  • Enforce modern coding standards through structured code review.
Aug 2018 — Present
Freelance, ongoing
04

RARE Voices Australia

Web Developer

Managed and improved WordPress platforms for a disability advocacy organisation.

  • Delivered accessible, performant web platforms ensuring WCAG AA/AAA compliance.
  • Strengthened security posture against Australian Government cybersecurity guidelines; conducted system audits and implemented SEO and speed optimisations.
Oct 2023 — Mar 2026
Ended
05

Film & Television Agency

Full-Stack Developer

Built a WordPress LMS with Laravel and Vue.js admin tooling.

  • Set up AWS EC2/Nginx/MySQL/PHP-FPM environments.
Dec 2019 — Oct 2020
Ended
06

Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Webmaster / Developer

A decade managing large-scale CMS environments for mission-driven digital campaigning.

  • Developed interactive campaign web apps in PHP, C#, and JavaScript.
  • Built a bespoke secured online donation form integrated with PayPal, Stripe and NAB.
2007 — 2017
Ended
Image pending

Selected work

StockeeA cloud-based retail SaaS platform. I was the sole engineer — no team to hand pieces off to, no one else accountable if something broke.

View full portfolio →

Expertise

Platform ownership

Architecture, deployment and operations for platforms one person is accountable for.

  • Scalable system design
  • Microservices & serverless (AWS Lambda)
  • RESTful API design
  • CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins)
  • Disaster recovery & monitoring
  • SOLID principles

Security

Applied practice, not a bullet point — trained, and used on real systems.

  • Cybersecurity practitioner
  • Penetration testing (Offensive Security, Kali Linux)
  • Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate — in progress
  • Cybersecurity policy authorship
  • System audits
  • JWT auth, RBAC, privilege management

Accessibility & performance

Delivered as a baseline requirement across NGO and advocacy platforms, not an afterthought.

  • WCAG AA / AAA compliance
  • SEO metadata & structured data
  • Core Web Vitals optimisation
  • Responsive, semantic markup

Stack fluency

Comfortable across the legacy CMS ecosystem most organisations actually run on, and the modern stack most teams aspire to.

  • TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js
  • PHP, Laravel, WordPress
  • Python (Django REST)
  • MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL
  • AWS (EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda)
  • Docker

Contact

Let’s talk.

Have something worth discussing? The fastest way to reach me is directly.

[email protected]