PHP Engineer

Mid-Level PHP / Symfony Developer Location: Leeds (Hybrid – 2 days per week onsite, Monday & Thursday) Salary: Up to £45,000 (DOE) The opportunity: We’re looking for a Mid-Level PHP / Symfony Developer to join a growing engineering team building modern digital platforms used by education professionals worldwide. This is a backend-focused role working across web applications and APIs within a collaborative, close-knit technology team. You’ll play a key role in developing new functionality, maintaining existing systems, and contributing to the ongoing evolution of a modern platform environment. The role would suit someone who enjoys writing clean, maintainable code, solving technical problems, and working within a supportive engineering culture that values collaboration, continuous learning, and progression. Although the role is predominantly backend-focused, there may be opportunities to contribute to frontend development when required, making it a great opportunity for someone looking to broaden their technical exposure over time. You’ll join a small team where culture and teamwork are genuinely important, with clear progression opportunities available as the engineering function continues to grow. What you’ll be doing: As a Mid-Level PHP / Symfony Developer, you’ll work closely with developers, QA engineers, and stakeholders to deliver scalable web applications and APIs using modern development practices. Key responsibilities include: Developing and maintaining Symfony-based backend applications and APIs Writing clean, scalable, and well-documented PHP code Building and improving RESTful API integrations and services Supporting existing systems, troubleshooting issues, and resolving bugs Collaborating with frontend developers and wider technical teams Contributing to code reviews, testing, and CI/CD processes Supporting deployments and integrations within AWS environments Contributing ideas to improve architecture, tooling, and development workflows Helping maintain technical documentation and development standards Occasionally supporting frontend development work where required  Core technology stack: PHP 8 Symfony 6 MySQL Doctrine ORM AWS (EC2 / Lambda) Docker Git / CI/CD pipelines Jira React / TypeScript frontend environment What we’re looking for: Essential experience: Commercial experience with PHP and Symfony Strong understanding of RESTful API development Experience working with relational databases such as MySQL Familiarity with Git and modern development workflows Ability to write clean, maintainable, and efficient code Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail Good communication and collaboration skills  Desirable / bonus experience: Frontend exposure with JavaScript, TypeScript, or React Experience working with Docker or containerised environments Exposure to AWS services and cloud deployments Experience working within Agile teams Knowledge of automated testing frameworks such as PHPUnit or Codeception Understanding of serverless or microservice-based architectures  About you: You’re a proactive developer who enjoys learning and improving You take pride in producing clean, reliable code You enjoy collaborating within a supportive team environment You’re comfortable taking ownership of your work and contributing ideas You’re adaptable and happy working across both new feature development and existing systems You’re looking for a role where you can continue to grow technically and professionally