Lead PHP Developer
Job Summary
Job Description
This role is for a Lead PHP Developer at Ness Digital Engineering. The company values its employees and aims to be a leading technology company by fostering professionalism, innovation, teamwork, and dedication. The Lead PHP Developer will define and own modernization roadmaps, establish coding standards, oversee pull-requests, and champion automated testing and CI/CD. They will also lead and mentor a team of PHP engineers, collaborate with other technical teams, set objectives, provide feedback, and grow engineers. The role involves hands-on development, including critical refactors, spiking new service boundaries, and writing clean PHP 8.x code. Additionally, the developer will partner with Product to align architecture with the roadmap and communicate technical vision to non-technical stakeholders. Continuous improvement through monitoring system health, performance, security, and running blameless post-mortems is also expected.
Must have:
- Expert-level PHP (8+ years)
- Deep knowledge of OOP
- Design patterns
- Composer-driven ecosystems
- Architecture at scale
- Leadership (3+ years)
- Testing culture (PHPUnit/Pest)
- DevOps familiarity (Docker/Kubernetes basics)
- Excellent communication
Good to have:
- Node.js experience
- Modernizing open-source products
- Event-driven architectures
- Familiarity with LMS/Ed-Tech
- Cloud expertise (AWS/GCP/Azure)
Perks:
- Access to trainings and certifications
- Bonuses
- Aids
- Socializing activities
- Attractive compensation
20 skills required
Job Details
Why NESS
We know that people are our greatest asset. Our staff's professionalism, innovation, teamwork, and dedication to excellence have helped us become one of the world's leading technology companies. It is these qualities that are vital to our continued success. As a Ness employee, you will be working on products and platforms for some of the most innovative software companies in the world.
You'll gain knowledge working alongside other highly skilled professionals that will help accelerate your career progression.
You'll also benefit from an array of advantages like access to trainings and certifications, bonuses, and aids, socializing activities, and attractive compensation.
Requirements and responsibilities
What you'll do:
Technical Leadership & Architecture – ~40 %
- Define and own the modernization roadmap (modularization, micro-services, domain-driven design).
- Establish coding standards, oversee complex pull-requests, and champion automated testing and CI/CD.
Team Leadership – ~30 %
- Lead and mentor a squad of 6–8 PHP engineers; collaborate closely with Node.js, DevOps, and front-end teams.
- Set objectives, provide feedback, and grow engineers into senior technical voices.
Hands-on Development – ~15 %
- Tackle critical refactors, spike new service boundaries, and prove architectural patterns in code.
- Write clean PHP 8.x (following Laravel/Symfony-style practices) and occasional Node.js utilities.
Stakeholder Collaboration – ~10 %
- Partner with Product to align architecture with the roadmap.
- Communicate technical vision to non-technical stakeholders in clear, business-focused language.
Continuous Improvement – ~5 %
- Monitor system health, performance, and security; run blameless post-mortems and drive iteration.
Key skillsets:
- Expert-level PHP: 8+ years building and scaling large PHP applications; deep knowledge of OOP, design patterns, and composer-driven ecosystems.
- Architecture at scale: Demonstrated success breaking monoliths into services or modular domains.
- Leadership: 3+ years leading engineering teams, including hiring, performance feedback, and career growth.
- Testing culture: PHPUnit/Pest, static analysis, performance profiling, and CI pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.).
- DevOps familiarity: Docker/Kubernetes basics, observability stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK), and secure deployment practices.
- Excellent communication: Able to translate technical complexity into business value.
Nice to have:
- Node.js (Express, Nest, or Fastify) for edge services, real-time features, or tooling.
- Experience modernizing open-source or community-driven products.
- Familiarity with event-driven architectures (Kafka, Pulsar) or CQRS/ES patterns.
- Knowledge of LMS, Ed-Tech, or other high-traffic SaaS products.
- Cloud expertise in AWS/EKS, GCP, or Azure.
Not checking every single requirement?
If this role sounds good to you, even if you don't meet every single bullet point in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. For most of the candidates that applied, we found a role that was a very good fit with their skills.
Let's meet and you may just be the right candidate for one of our roles.
At Ness Digital Engineering we are willing to build a work culture that is based on diversification, inclusion, and authenticity.
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