Software Development Engineer

WESTAY; Dubai; On-site; AED 300,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

WESTAY is seeking a Senior SDE-AI to architect and deliver mission-critical internal systems with Claude AI-assisted development. You will own features end-to-end, design robust APIs, and ensure system reliability, while mentoring junior developers and guiding AI-assisted workflows.

Bring 6–7 years of experience, expert PHP 8+ with Symfony, PostgreSQL, and strong cloud/CI/CD know-how. You will shape architecture, enforce code quality, and collaborate across teams to accelerate delivery.

Qualifications

• 6–7 years of professional software development experience.
• Expert-level proficiency in PHP 8+ with Symfony and Twig.
• Strong PostgreSQL database design, queries, transactions, and migrations.
• Hands-on with Claude AI or similar tooling in development workflows.
• Mastery of Git and release workflows.
• Architectural thinking for scalable, secure systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; degree in CS/IT.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build full-stack systems from database schema to UI using PHP/Symfony.
• Own features end-to-end: requirements, design, API, implementation, testing, deployment, and support.
• Lead AI-assisted development: specify, guide Claude outputs, validate and correct.
• Mentor and review code; maintain high-quality standards.
• Identify workflow/data model gaps and drive improvements to production.
• Troubleshoot root causes with depth; ensure reliability and security.

Skills

PHP 8+

Symfony

Twig templating

PostgreSQL

Claude AI

Git

Docker

Kubernetes

REST API design

CI/CD

Python

Bash

Cloud: AWS/Azure

Security best practices

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Software Engineering / IT

Tools

Cursor

Docker

Kubernetes

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Job description

The SDE-AI is a senior engineer who architects and delivers the company's mission-critical internal systems using AI-augmented development. This role combines deep expertise in Claude, PHP, Symfony, and relational databases with the strategic ability to leverage AI assistance for rapid, high-quality delivery. The engineer drives architectural decisions, mentors junior developers, and ensures that AI tooling augments-never replaces-critical judgment and code quality. Ownership spans from database design to user experience, with accountability for both feature delivery and system reliability.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Architect and build full-stack systems from database schema to UI, using PHP/Symfony as the primary stack and Claude AI for rapid, high-quality iteration.
• Own features end-to-end: define requirements, design schema and APIs, implement with AI assistance, review critically, test thoroughly, deploy, and support live.
• Lead AI-assisted development practice: write precise specifications, guide Claude's output generation, catch and correct mistakes, and validate every deliverable as rigorously as hand-written code.
• Mentor and code review: guide junior developers, conduct thorough code reviews, share AI best practices, and maintain code quality standards.
• Identify and propose improvements: notice gaps in workflows, systems, or data model; propose solutions; and drive them to production.
• Troubleshoot at depth: investigate root causes, trace complex failures across layers, and resolve issues permanently.
• Maintain specifications as the source of truth: keep architecture documentation, API specs, and database schemas current as behaviour evolves.

REQUIREMENTS

• 6–7 years of professional software development experience, with demonstrated ownership of systems from requirements through production.
• Expert-level proficiency in PHP 8+ with Symfony framework and Twig templating. Production experience with Symfony 5+ (or similar like Laravel) , REST API design, form handling, and security hardening required.
• Deep working knowledge of relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL (mandatory) and No-SQL (good to have) : schema design, query optimization, transactions, migrations, and performance tuning.
• Hands-on experience with Claude AI / Cursor / similar as a development partner: ability to write precise specs, validate AI-generated code, catch logical errors, and integrate Claude into development workflows. Prior AI-assisted projects required.
• Mastery of version control (Git): branch strategies, code review cycles, merge conflicts, and release workflows.
• Architectural thinking: can design systems for scalability, security, and maintainability; understands trade-offs between simplicity and feature richness.
• Excellent written and verbal communication: documents decisions, explains code rationale, asks clarifying questions, and raises concerns early.
• Diploma or degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent demonstrated expertise.
• Good understanding of one of cloud components (AWS or Azure)
• Containerization and deployment: Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI).
• Scripting and automation: Python or Bash for data pipelines, testing, and DevOps tasks.
• Testing expertise: unit tests, integration tests, test-driven development (TDD), and performance benchmarking.
• Security practices: input validation, authentication/authorization, OWASP top 10, secure credential management.
• Experience with agentic or advanced AI tooling beyond Claude; understanding of model limitations and prompt engineering.