PHP Laravel Developer (Remote)

Join a small, fast-growing engineering team building one of the UK's largest online marketplaces in it’s field.

Behind the scenes, our platform processes millions of customer interactions, large volumes of data, real-time events, payments, AI-powered background services, and high-throughput messaging systems.

We're growing our engineering team and are looking for an experienced Laravel developer who enjoys solving challenging technical problems, building reliable software at scale, and making a genuine impact.

This isn't a role where you'll spend your days maintaining simple CRUD applications. You'll be designing systems, improving architecture, solving performance challenges and shipping features that are used by millions of people across the UK.

Why join us?

We're a small, fast-growing engineering team, which means every developer has real influence.

You'll work directly with experienced engineers and company leadership, helping shape both the technical direction of our platform and the future of the business.

There are no unnecessary layers of management or lengthy approval processes. If you have a great idea, you'll be encouraged to build it. If you spot an opportunity to improve something, you'll have the freedom to make it happen.

As we continue to grow, there will be genuine opportunities to develop your career, take on greater technical responsibility, and help shape our engineering culture.

What you'll be working on

-Every week brings new challenges. Depending on the project, you could be:

-Modernising our Laravel platform

-Building scalable backend services and APIs

-Optimising SQL queries across large datasets

-Designing efficient database structures and indexes

-Building AI-powered background services and internal tooling

-Integrating with services such as Stripe, AWS, Google and OpenAI

-Improving caching, queues and asynchronous processing

-Developing internal applications that support teams across the business

-Improving application performance, reliability and scalability

-Contributing to our ongoing AWS migration

You'll see your work go live quickly and have a direct impact on both our customers and our internal teams.

Our technology

We believe in using the right tools for the job. Our stack currently includes:

• Laravel
• PHP 8+
• MariaDB / MySQL
• Redis
• RabbitMQ
• AWS
• Docker
• Vue.js
• Stripe

Technology continues to evolve, and so do we. We're always looking for better ways to build, deploy and operate our platform.

What we're looking for

Essential

-At least 2 years' commercial Laravel experience

-At least 5 years working with modern backend frameworks

-Strong SQL knowledge, including indexes and database design

-Experience working with large datasets or high-volume applications

-Experience integrating third-party APIs such as Stripe, Google, AWS, OpenAI or similar

-Good understanding of backend concepts including caching, queues and asynchronous processing

-Strong debugging and problem-solving skills

You'll probably enjoy this role if you...

-Love solving difficult technical problems

-Naturally ask intelligent questions

-Enjoy understanding how systems work under the hood

-Take ownership of your work

-Care about writing clean, maintainable software

-Communicate well with both technical and non-technical colleagues

-Keep up with technology because you're genuinely interested

-Want to be part of a small engineering team where your work has visible impact

We're far more interested in curiosity, problem-solving ability and attitude than simply ticking every technology box.

Working with us

We're remote first, giving you the flexibility to work where you're most productive.

We ask everyone to join us in our office in Chester approximately once a month for planning sessions, collaboration and team days.

You'll be joining a close-knit engineering team where everyone contributes ideas, supports one another and takes pride in building great software.

What we offer

• £40,000–£65,000 salary depending on experience
• Performance bonus scheme
• Private Medical Insurance
• Contributory pension
• Remote-first working
• Flexible working arrangements
• Monthly team meetups in Chester
• Casual dress
• Team away days
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities
• Exposure to modern cloud, AI and backend technologies
• Genuine career progression as our engineering team continues to grow

Why now?

This is an exciting time to join.

We're investing heavily in our technology, modernising our platform, expanding our cloud infrastructure, and building the next generation of services that support our marketplace.

If you're looking for a role where you'll solve interesting engineering challenges, work with modern technologies, and be part of a small, ambitious team where your contribution genuinely matters, we'd love to hear from you.