Backend Developer (PHP/Laravel)

Company Overview

Our organization operates a specialized online platform for the art market. The platform facilitates the management of artist portfolios, artwork metadata, digital exhibitions, and e-commerce transactions. A central aspect of our service is robust content moderation. We are committed to maintaining a platform built on principles of reliability, data integrity, accessibility, and adherence to compliance standards, including GDPR and PCI considerations where applicable.

Role Summary

We are seeking a Backend Developer to build and maintain our backend services and server-rendered views. The role involves direct responsibility for integrating with payment gateways, search services, and asset storage solutions. You will also support the content management workflows utilized by our curators and artists.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain Laravel services, APIs, and Blade templates/components.
• Model and manage data entities including artists, artworks, collections, exhibitions, orders, customers, and inventory.
• Implement authentication and authorization systems using Laravel policies and gates to manage role-based access for curators, artists, and administrators.
• Integrate payment providers, such as Stripe, ensuring secure webhook processing and accurate order lifecycle management.
• Build and optimize search and filtering functionality for artworks, incorporating pagination and caching strategies.
• Develop image handling workflows utilizing queues, S3-compatible storage, thumbnail generation, and CDN integration.
• Optimize database queries, prevent N+1 issues, and apply best practices for indexing and caching.
• Implement comprehensive validation, error handling, logging, and monitoring using tools like Laravel Telescope and Horizon.
• Write unit and integration tests with Pest or PHPUnit and participate in formal code reviews.
• Contribute to the maintenance of deployment pipelines and environment configurations.

Requirements

• A minimum of 4 years of professional software development experience with PHP and the Laravel framework.
• Strong proficiency in Blade templating, including layouts, components, and slots. Familiarity with Tailwind CSS and Alpine.js is preferred.
• A solid understanding of relational databases (MySQL/PostgreSQL), including schema design, migrations, and query optimization.
• Experience with RESTful API design, webhooks, and integrating third-party services for payments, search, and email.
• Proficiency with authentication/authorization concepts, including policies, gates, and permissions packages.
• Familiarity with queues, caching stores (e.g., Redis), and scheduled job processing.
• Experience with object storage services (S3 or compatible) and CDN integration.
• Demonstrated testing experience with PHPUnit or Pest and familiarity with CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI).
• A working knowledge of web security principles and compliance considerations (OWASP, GDPR, PCI).
• Clear and concise written documentation skills.

Nice to Have

• Experience with image processing pipelines (e.g., Intervention, ImageMagick), IIIF, or Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems.
• Experience with dedicated search services such as Elasticsearch, Meilisearch, or Algolia.
• Knowledge of accessibility standards (WCAG) and best practices for internationalization/localization.

Location and Work Arrangement

This is a full-time, remote position. Candidates are expected to be available for collaboration during standard business hours.

Application Process

To apply, please submit your resume, along with relevant code samples or a portfolio. Include a brief description of two projects you have worked on that are relevant to this role, detailing your specific responsibilities and the project outcomes.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: E£13,000.00 - E£15,000.00 per month