Great Lakes Dental Technologies

Great Lakes Dental Technologies is looking for a hands-on, web application developer who can help enhance and support the web systems that keep internal teams running and support key customer-facing processes. This role is ideal for someone ready to grow under senior technical guidance while contributing real code in a structured, quality-focused environment. Strong fits are curious, dependable, clear communicators who can work through ambiguity with guidance and grow into increased technical ownership over time.

Title: Associate Web Application Developer

In-Person Requirement: This role requires working in person at our Tonawanda, NY location. We allow some flexibility.

Salary Range: $70,000 - $82,000

Summary: The Associate Web Application Developer (PHP/Laravel) develops, maintains, and supports web applications and system integrations that enable business operations and select customer-facing workflows. Working under the guidance of senior technical staff, this role implements features and defect fixes primarily in PHP/Laravel, contributes to API-based integrations and database-backed applications, and adheres to established standards for code quality, security, documentation, and change control.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: The following statement reflects the general details considered necessary to describe the principle functions of the job identified and shall not be construed as a detailed description of all work requirements that may be inherent to the job.

• Build and maintain web applications (primarily PHP/Laravel) for internal operations and customer-facing sites.
• Design and implement data integrations between internal systems and third-party platforms using REST APIs.
• Work directly with stakeholders—including non-technical colleagues—to understand requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
• Troubleshoot, debug, and improve existing systems across the application stack.
• Contribute across the full software development lifecycle: design, development, testing, deployment, and support.
• Participate in code review, testing, and documentation to support quality and maintainability.
• Coordinate releases with the technology team and follow change-control procedures.
• Grow into more responsibility over time with appropriate guidance.
• Additional duties as assigned by supervisor.

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field preferred, or equivalent combination of education and practical experience.
• 1 - 3 years of relevant software development experience (professional, internship/co-op, or significant project-based experience).
• Working knowledge of object-oriented PHP and experience building web applications in a modern framework (Laravel preferred).
• Familiarity with relational databases and SQL, including creating and modifying queries and understanding basic indexing concepts.
• Basic understanding of REST APIs, JSON, authentication concepts (e.g., API keys, tokens), and data validation.
• Familiarity with Linux command-line fundamentals and typical web application environments.
• Exposure to version control workflows (Git) and collaborative development practices.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills and a learning mindset; able to work through ambiguity with guidanc
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document work and explain technical issues to non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Hands-on experience with Laravel in a production environment.
• Experience with e-commerce platforms (Adobe Commerce/Magento preferred).
• Front-end fundamentals: JavaScript and modern CSS; familiarity with TypeScript, Alpine.js, or Tailwind CSS is a plus.
• Exposure to AWS or cloud-hosted environments (e.g., EC2, RDS) and basic application monitoring/logging practices.
• Experience writing unit tests or using automated testing tools.

Reasoning Ability:

• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed written and oral instructions.
• Ability to deal with problems involving several variables in standardized situations.
• Ability to review data, draw conclusions and make suggestions based on data.

In-Person Requirement: This role requires working in person at our Tonawanda, NY location.

EEO/Disabilities/Veterans. Individuals with disabilities and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.

• Established Legacy - Joining Great Lakes provides career advancement at a stable, industry-leading company that has grown from a 2-person lab in 1965 to a 200+ employee-owned organization.
• Employee Ownership - At Great Lakes, employee ownership means that each team member has a stake in the company's success, fostering a sense of responsibility, collaboration, and commitment to our shared goals. Employees earn company stock.
• Comprehensive Benefits – We provide an array of benefits that can help you enjoy increased well-being, deal with an unexpected illness or accident, build and protect your financial security, balance your personal and professional life and meet everyday needs.
• Wellness & Work-Life Balance - Enjoy an environment that promotes wellness events and a healthy work-life balance, ensuring a fulfilling and sustainable life and career.
• Diverse Opportunities - Find employment opportunities in various departments including laboratory, digital production, customer service, accounting, sales, marketing, warehouse, and shipping and receiving.
• Training and Innovation – Hands on training provides many opportunities to develop and enhance your skills to advance in your career.
• Community and Impact - Participate in various company-sponsored activities such as raffles for charity, fitness events, lunch and learns, craft nights, food trucks, company lunches, and outings.