Software Development Engineer

WESTAY; Dubai; On-site; AED 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

WESTAY seeks a Software Development Engineer (SDE‑AI) to architect and deliver mission‑critical internal systems using AI‑augmented development. This role blends deep PHP/Symfony expertise with Claude AI to accelerate high‑quality delivery while preserving code quality and security.

You will own features end‑to‑end, design schemas and APIs, implement with AI assistance, review rigorously, test thoroughly, deploy, and support live.

Qualifications

• 6–7 years of professional software development experience, with ownership from requirements through production.
• Expert‑level PHP 8+ with Symfony and Twig; REST API design, form handling, and security hardening.
• Relational databases focus on PostgreSQL; knowledge of No‑SQL is a plus.
• Hands‑on experience with Claude AI / Cursor in development workflows; verify AI outputs.
• Version control mastery; branching, code review, merges, releases.
• Architectural thinking for scalable, secure, maintainable systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; document decisions and rationale.
• Cloud knowledge (AWS or Azure).
• Front‑end fundamentals: HTML, CSS, modern JS (Vue/React).
• Containerization/CI‑CD: Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI.
• Scripting: Python or Bash for automation.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build full‑stack systems from database to UI using PHP/Symfony.
• Own features end‑to‑end: requirements, APIs, implementation, testing, deployment, live support.
• Lead AI‑assisted development: specify, validate, and refine Claude‑generated code.
• Mentor and perform thorough code reviews; promote best AI practices.
• Identify workflow or data model gaps and drive improvements to production.
• Investigate root causes, trace failures across layers, and resolve issues.
• Maintain architecture docs, API specs, and database schemas as the system evolves.

Skills

PHP 8+ & Symfony

Claude AI integration

Database design

Frontend basics

Architectural thinking

Code review & mentoring

Education

BSc in Computer Science or Software Engineering

Tools

Claude AI

Cursor

Docker

Kubernetes

PostgreSQL

Vue.js

React

Git/GitHub Actions/GitLab CI

Twig templating

Job description

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER

ROLE SUMMARY

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)


• Front‑end fundamentals: HTML, CSS, modern JavaScript frameworks (Vue.js, React).


• 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.