PHP Developer

Role: PHP Developer

Location: Lincolnshire

Working Arrangement: Office-based

Salary: Up to £55k

We’re looking for a Senior Backend / Platform Developer who enjoys solving complex engineering challenges and building reliable systems that scale. This role is ideal for someone who is passionate about backend architecture, enjoys improving existing platforms, and wants to have real influence on how systems evolve over time. You’ll be joining a collaborative engineering environment where your ideas and expertise will help shape the future direction of the platform.

In this role, you’ll design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services using PHP, Laravel, and other backend technologies. You’ll build robust APIs, service layers, and data models that support frontend applications and integrations with third-party systems. Alongside feature development, you’ll focus on improving performance, strengthening security, and enhancing the reliability of core backend systems. You’ll also help implement automated testing, code quality tooling, and deployment automation to ensure stable, repeatable releases.

You’ll play an important role in setting engineering standards across the team, producing clean, well-structured, and well-documented code while contributing to architectural decisions and best practices. As a senior member of the team, you’ll also mentor other developers, helping to raise engineering capability and supporting the growth of mid-level and junior engineers.

Beyond development, you’ll be involved in diagnosing and resolving complex technical issues. This includes investigating production incidents, identifying performance bottlenecks, and resolving data inconsistencies or service degradation. You’ll support root cause analysis and help implement long-term solutions that improve platform stability. Collaboration will be key, as you’ll work closely with colleagues across engineering and other teams to share knowledge, document systems, and maintain internal technical guidance. The role may also include participation in an out-of-hours support rota to help maintain platform stability during critical incidents.

You’ll also contribute to the wider technical strategy. This includes evaluating and prototyping new technologies, frameworks, and tools that could improve the platform. You’ll support the development and automation of CI/CD pipelines and help shape approaches to cloud infrastructure, including containerisation, scalability, and observability. As part of the engineering team, you’ll help drive improvements to development workflows and Agile practices while contributing to the long-term technical roadmap and modernisation of the platform.

To succeed in this role, you’ll bring strong backend development experience and a passion for building reliable systems. You’ll be someone who enjoys learning new technologies, improving development processes, and collaborating with others to solve problems. You’ll be comfortable working in a fast-moving environment, balancing feature delivery with platform improvements, and taking ownership of complex technical challenges.

Key skills and experience include:

• Strong backend development experience, particularly with PHP and Laravel
  
  
• Experience designing and building APIs, service layers, and scalable backend systems
  
  
• Strong understanding of performance optimisation, security, and system reliability
  
  
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and deployment automation
  
  
• Ability to investigate and resolve complex production issues
  
  
• Experience mentoring developers and contributing to engineering best practices
  
  In return, you’ll have the opportunity to work on a platform that continues to evolve, contribute to meaningful technical decisions, and collaborate with a team that values knowledge sharing, continuous improvement, and professional development. You’ll be encouraged to keep learning, explore new technologies, and play an active role in shaping the future of the platform.
  
  We welcome diverse applicants and are dedicated to treating all applicants with dignity and respect, regardless of background