Summary
✨ AI‑Generated
A senior PHP engineering and technical architecture opportunity for an experienced backend specialist. You will design and operate high-scale, highly available systems, build APIs, work with relational databases and distributed architectures, and tackle demanding production challenges. Hybrid working is available, with UK work authorization required.
Highlights
Senior architecture-focused position with hybrid working, substantial backend ownership, and the opportunity to design scalable, highly available systems for high-traffic applications.
Description
Senior PHP Developer – Technical Architect
Location: London, UK – Hybrid (2–3 days/week in office)
Experience: 9+ years
Employment Type: Permanent / Contract
Salary: Up to £90,000–£94,000 per annum
Contract Rate: £500 per day
Work Authorisation: Valid UK work authorisation is mandatory
Role Overview
We are looking for a Senior PHP Developer – Technical Architect with 9+ years of experience in backend development and large-scale production systems.
The ideal candidate will have strong PHP expertise combined with experience designing scalable, highly available architectures for high-traffic consumer products.
Key Responsibilities & Skills
Design, develop and operate high-scale PHP backend systems.Build robust, scalable and highly available production systems.Design and maintain APIs, client-server communication and mobile API versioning.Work extensively with MySQL, caching, distributed systems and high-availability architectures.Hands-on experience with gRPC and Protocol Buffers.Work with GCP, Kafka, Kubernetes, Docker and CI/CD.Drive performance optimisation, monitoring, observability and incident management.Work with monetisation and payment systems, including subscriptions and in-app purchases.Collaborate closely with Product, QA, Design and Mobile Engineering teams.Use modern AI-assisted development tools, including Claude Code, where appropriate.Preferred Skills
Degree in Computer Science or a related discipline.Experience with Aerospike, ClickHouse and Elasticsearch.Experience working with large monolithic applications and cloud migration programmes.Good understanding of GDPR and consumer data privacy requirements.Ideal Candidate
The successful candidate will combine strong hands-on PHP development skills with technical architecture, scalability and system-design expertise.
Experience working on high-traffic consumer-facing platforms and production systems at scale is highly desirable.
Mandatory: 9+ years of relevant experience and valid UK work authorisation.
For CV screening, I would treat these as the must-have knockout criteria:
9+ years overall experienceStrong recent PHP backend developmentHigh-traffic / high-scale production systemsAPI design + mobile API versioningMySQL + caching + distributed systemsgRPC / Protocol BuffersGCP + Kubernetes + Docker + CI/CDArchitecture / technical design experienceMonitoring, observability & performance optimisationValid UK work authorisationLondon hybrid – 2–3 days WFOIdeally, payments/subscriptions/in-app purchasesNice-to-have: Aerospike, ClickHouse, Elasticsearch, Kafka, cloud migration, GDPR, and AI-assisted development tools.
