Senior Back-end Software Engineer

act digital; Brussel Hoofdstad; On-site; EUR 85,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Act Digital is seeking a Senior Back-End Software Engineer for a leading European institution. You will develop and maintain back-end web applications, design secure APIs, integrate with front-end, and optimize data storage with scalable queries.

The role requires 15+ years in IT, 10+ years in PHP/back-end, experience with Drupal 8+, REST, CI/CD, and cloud basics. Strong English (B2) and EU security clearance are required.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in software development.
• 10+ years back-end development in PHP and related frameworks.
• 10+ years with relational databases and complex SQL.
• 5+ years building secure RESTful APIs.
• Experience with Git-based workflows and secure coding.
• Experience with Drupal 8+ and MVC frameworks.
• Knowledge of PHP, Laravel, Symfony or Spring Boot.
• Experience with REST APIs, OpenAPI/Swagger.
• Security standards: OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT.
• CI/CD, Docker and Kubernetes in production.
• Observability tools such as Dynatrace/Splunk/Elastic APM.
• English communication in multilingual meetings.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain back-end web apps, services and logic.
• Design and document secure APIs and web services.
• Integrate front-end with server-side logic.
• Design relational data storage and complex queries.
• Apply security best practices and compliant logging.
• Optimize speed and scalability with monitoring.
• Perform unit/integration tests within CI/CD.
• Configure basic cloud services and produce documentation.

Skills

Back-end development

Relational databases

RESTful APIs

Security best practices

Git

Drupal

PHP

Laravel/Symfony/Spring Boot

OpenAPI/Swagger

OAuth 2.0/OpenID Connect

CI/CD

Docker

Kubernetes

Observability tools

English communication

Education

Master's degree (EQF Level 7)

Bachelor's degree (EQF Level 6)

Secondary education with access to higher education

Tools

Drupal

MySQL

PostgreSQL

Oracle

Elasticsearch/OpenSearch

OpenAPI/Swagger

Git

CI/CD

Docker

Kubernetes

Dynatrace/Splunk/Elastic APM

Job description

Act Digital is looking for a Senior Back-End Software Engineer for a leading European institution.

TASKS :

• Develop and maintain back-end web applications, services and core business logic.
• Design, develop and document secure APIs and web services, including endpoint authentication and authorization.
• Integrate user-facing elements developed by front-end developers with server-side logic.
• Design and implement relational data-storage solutions, including complex queries and efficient data access.
• Apply security best practices, including input validation, secure storage, compliant logging and monitoring.
• Optimise applications for speed and scalability using monitoring tools for troubleshooting.
• Perform unit and integration testing, debugging and code validation within CI/CD pipelines.
• Configure basic cloud services for back-end functionality and produce clear technical documentation.

SENIORITY REQUIREMENTS :

To qualify for this position, the consultant must have:

• University degree corresponding to Level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework (typically Master level or 5 years of higher education), and minimum 15 years of IT professional experience;

or

• University degree corresponding to Level 6 of the European Qualifications Framework (typically Bachelor level or 3 years of higher education), and minimum 17 years of IT professional experience;

or

• Secondary education giving access to higher education and minimum 22 years of professional IT experience.

REQUIREMENTS :

Required Certifications :

• No specific certificate is required.
• Candidate must already hold EU-27 security clearance or meet the eligibility requirements to obtain it.

Knowledge & Skills :

• Minimum 15 years of professional experience in software development.
• Minimum 10 years of back-end development in one or more back-end languages, such as PHP, with related frameworks.
• Minimum 10 years of work with relational databases, including complex SQL.
• Minimum 5 years designing, building and securing web services and RESTful APIs.
• Experience with Git-based version control and secure coding practices.
• Experience with Drupal.
• Experience working in an international public organisation.
• Back-end languages such as PHP; MVC frameworks such as Laravel, Symfony or Spring Boot; object-oriented design.
• Drupal 8 and above.
• MySQL, PostgreSQL or Oracle; complex SQL, schema design and working knowledge of NoSQL document stores.
• RESTful APIs and web services; OpenAPI/Swagger documentation.
• OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, input validation, secure storage, compliant logging and monitoring.
• Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines, Docker and Kubernetes.
• Dynatrace, Splunk or Elastic APM.
• Elasticsearch or OpenSearch is an asset, but not mandatory.
• Apply careful attention to code correctness, error handling, security and technical documentation.
• Analyse complex back-end issues and design maintainable solutions from inception through ongoing maintenance.
• Work in English and participate in multilingual meetings in a multicultural environment.
• Communicate clearly and work both autonomously and collaboratively with a results-oriented delivery focus.

(!) IMPORTANT :

Candidate must already hold EU-27 security clearance or meet the eligibility requirements to obtain it.

Minimum level B2 in English, both spoken and written.