PHP Backend Developer

PHP Backend Developer | Hamburg An established start-up, product-led software company is looking for a PHP Backend Developer with a strong Laravel focus to join their engineering team in Hamburg. The company builds AI-supported software for a demanding, data-heavy industry, working with major enterprise clients. Their platform uses modern AI technologies to optimise complex operational processes and improve efficiency at scale. The team combines deep domain expertise with strong software engineering, and innovation sits at the centre of how they work. The Role: - Collaborating on projects with the engineering team for major enterprise clients. - Developing a high-performance application. - Maintaining a clear focus on code quality based on the Laravel framework. - Taking responsibility for providing APIs for mobile apps and single page applications. - Bringing existing features up to the latest state of the art. - Contributing to the development of innovative new products. Requirements: - Very good knowledge of PHP and modern object-oriented software development. - Several years of practical experience with Laravel and its ecosystem. - Very good knowledge of relational databases, particularly MySQL – from data modelling and indexing through to query and performance optimisation. - Experience in the design and development of REST APIs. - Confident handling of Git and modern development workflows. - Experience with automated testing and high standards for code quality. - Sound understanding of software architecture, design patterns and building maintainable systems. - Experience with queues, caching and asynchronous processing is an advantage. - Able to independently get to grips with complex existing systems and develop them further in a structured way. - Makes technical decisions based on expertise and can justify them clearly. - Takes ownership of solutions from concept through to production. - Questions existing solutions and contributes ideas and improvements. - Full Professional German and English skills. - Completed university degree (at least Bachelor's) in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a comparable IT-focused discipline, or a completed apprenticeship as an IT specialist (Fachinformatiker). - Practical skills, technical understanding and commitment are valued alongside formal qualifications.