Mid-Senior Backend Developer (PHP / Laravel) (#67)

Job Title: Mid–Senior Backend Engineer (PHP / Laravel)

Location: Remote – Latin America (Working Spanish Hours)

Type of Contract: Contractor | Remote

Salary Range: $3,800 - $4,500

Language Requirements: Professional English and Native Spanish

We are seeking a skilled Mid–Senior Backend Engineer with strong PHP and Laravel expertise to join our client's growing team. You will play a key role in building scalable backend architectures, developing high-performance APIs, and maintaining robust distributed systems. Your work will directly impact platform scalability, system reliability, and the delivery of high-quality digital products.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable, secure, and high-performance backend architectures using modern PHP frameworks, primarily Laravel.
• Build and maintain RESTful APIs that connect frontend applications, databases, and third-party services.
• Implement clean, maintainable backend code following Clean Architecture, SOLID principles, and industry best practices.
• Develop and maintain data models, business logic, and integrations with external APIs and services.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Product, Design, QA, Marketing, and DevOps to deliver end-to-end solutions.
• Perform code reviews, refactor legacy systems, and continuously optimize backend performance and scalability.
• Ensure high-quality deliverables through unit testing, integration testing, debugging, and CI/CD development workflows.

Must-Have Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience working with Laravel in large-scale, high-traffic production environments.
• Advanced proficiency in modern PHP development, including experience with Twig or similar template engines.
• Strong experience with PHP tooling and dependency management using Composer, PHPStan, and PHPMD.
• Deep knowledge of relational databases such as MySQL or PostgreSQL.
• Experience building microservices and distributed systems using Docker.
• Strong understanding of Clean Architecture, Domain-Driven Design (DDD), SOLID principles, and best practices such as TDD and CQRS.
• Experience with Git-based version control and modern development workflows.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with NoSQL databases such as Redis, MongoDB, or Elasticsearch.
• Experience working with message brokers such as RabbitMQ or Kafka.
• Strong background in unit testing and automated testing frameworks.
• Experience refactoring and modernizing legacy codebases.
• Familiarity with AI development tools such as Junie or Claude, including experience building AI skills or working with AI agents.
• Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving ability, and proactive ownership of technical challenges.