Why this role exists We’re building and evolving a custom PHP web application that powers real-world operations.
No hand-holding frameworks here — just clean, object‑oriented PHP, RESTful services, and a stack that rewards engineers who love understanding how things actually work .
If you enjoy getting close to the metal with Core/Vanilla PHP, care about performance, and can comfortably move between data layers, UI, and cloud infrastructure, you’ll feel right at home.
What you’ll do (the work) Ship features end‑to‑end in a framework‑free, OOP PHP codebase (namespaces, interfaces, traits, SOLID principles).
Design and implement RESTful endpoints (JSON), including request validation, pagination, error handling, and versioning.
Write robust SQL (DDL/DML), optimise queries and indexes, and integrate via PDO with prepared statements.
Work with MongoDB for document‑oriented use cases; design efficient schemas and aggregation pipelines where relevant.
Build and enhance front‑end interactions with jQuery , HTML/CSS , and Tailwind CSS for fast, clean UI work.
Integrate external APIs (REST/Webhooks), handle oauth/token flows, retries, idempotency, and rate‑limit strategy.
Operate in AWS : deploy apps on Elastic Beanstalk , manage assets in S3 , use DynamoDB where appropriate, and keep environments healthy (logs, scaling, env vars).
Handle SSL/TLS certificate management and DNS via Cloudflare ; ensure zero‑downtime renewals and sane caching rules.
Work with WordPress CMS where needed (content ingestion/integration, headless endpoints, custom fields/templates).
Pair closely with another Senior Developer who knows the platform inside‑out; take part in code reviews and architecture discussions.
Own quality: write pragmatic tests, instrument metrics, document decisions, and leave the codebase tidier than you found it.
The environment (important context) No modern PHP frameworks.
We use Core/Vanilla PHP with strong OOP.
If your superpower is Laravel or Symfony only , this role isn’t the right fit.
We follow OOP and RESTful design practices, emphasising clarity, testability, and performance.
We value speed with discipline : small PRs, sensible testing, continuous improvement.
Must‑have skills & experience Core/Vanilla PHP (7.
x/8.x) with OOP : interfaces, traits, namespaces, dependency injection, SOLID.
RESTful API design & implementation (JSON), auth patterns, and versioning.
SQL mastery (query optimisation, indexing, transactions) and PDO best practices.
MongoDB fundamentals (schema design, aggregations, performance basics).
Front‑end: jQuery , semantic HTML , modern CSS , and Tailwind CSS utility workflows.
External API integrations (OAuth, webhooks, retries, idempotency, error/bounce handling).
AWS: Elastic Beanstalk deployments, S3 lifecycle, DynamoDB usage, environment configuration, logging/monitoring basics.
Security : input validation, CSRF/XSS/SQL injection prevention, secrets management, and safe file handling.
SSL/TLS & DNS via Cloudflare (including HSTS, redirects, caching/CDN rulesets, cert renewals).
WordPress CMS experience (admin/config, theme/plugin interaction, or headless/REST usage).
Git and collaborative workflows (feature branches, code reviews, CI basics).
Comfortable with Linux/CLI for diagnostics and automation.
Nice to have (bonus points) Experience with queues/workers for background jobs.
Testing : PHPUnit or similar; integration test mindset.
Performance profiling (Xdebug/Blackfire) and caching strategies (OPcache/application‑level caching).
Observability basics (structured logging, alerts, dashboards).
What success looks like 30 days Onboarded, local/dev environments humming, shipping small improvements and fixes.
Demonstrates understanding of domain models and core modules.
60 days Independently delivering medium‑sized features end‑to‑end.
Improving SQL queries and indexes, reducing response times and error rates.
90 days Co‑owning a roadmap area; proposing architecture improvements.
Raising overall code quality with patterns, guardrails, and clear documentation.
How we work Remote first.
Clear written communication is king.
Ticketed workflow with lightweight specs and acceptance criteria.
Code reviews for every PR; pair programming with the platform owner for complex changes.
Pragmatic documentation (readmes/ADR notes) close to the code.
