Lead Backend Engineer

#job #vacancy #remote #fulltime #lead #backend #php

Company - Free VPN Planet
Lead Backend Engineer
Remote | GMT+1–GMT+5 | Full-time | English B2+
Candidate location - Europe
Salary 4500-5500 USD gross
Contract type: B2B / contractor

We are looking for an experienced **Backend PHP Developer** who thrives on solving complex challenges and is ready to make a massive impact on a high-traffic product at the intersection of security, massive scale, and digital freedom.
**We have several projects, with the main tech stack:**
PHP 7.4 / 8.*
Laravel 7 / 8 / 11
MySQL 8
Redis / Memcache

**What you will do**
- Managing a backend development team and performing code reviews.
- Working with and understanding existing codebases.
- Collaborating closely with the team to define and prioritize tasks.
- Independently solving tasks of various complexity.
- Conducting research tasks to identify the best possible solutions for different problems.
- Developing new features and integrating various third-party services into existing projects (we have both API-based projects for client software and admin panels).
- Refactoring/optimizing existing Laravel code (we do not have heavy legacy code).
- Grooming, task decomposition, and estimation, managing active and planned tasks in YouTrack Dashboards and Gantt Chart.
- Occasionally working with Blade templates (we have frontend developers for layout and major features).
- Documenting code and completed tasks (for cooperation with other departments).
- Creating new projects from scratch.

**What we are looking for**
- 7+ years of commercial PHP development experience.
- Experience working in a team environment (you should be able to write self-documented and readable code).
- Strong collaboration and communication skills.
- Experience working with high-load projects (you should understand what server resources your solution consumes and how).
- Excellent knowledge of PHP and OOP principles.
- Excellent knowledge of SQL & Eloquent.
- Solid knowledge and experience with Laravel.
- Knowledge and experience working with queues, Redis, Memcache, Nginx, Node.js, Git, Composer.
- Knowledge and experience with *nix CLI.
- Accuracy and cleanliness in writing code and managing Git.
- Self-organization skills.
- Written English at B2 or higher.

**What we offer**
- Build personal AI agents using our premium infrastructure.
- Absolute freedom to work from any location (GMT+1– GMT+4).
- Internal R&D opportunities.
- Paid time off and sick leave.
- Direct impact on a massive, world-class B2C product.
- A collaborative environment with some of the best minds.
- Hardware upon completion of your probation.

Apply here: https://freevpnplanet.peopleforce.io/careers/v/200740-lead-backend-php-engineer