Lead Software Engineer

Stockford Recruitment; Manchester; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A UK digital healthcare business is seeking a Senior/Lead Developer to modernise PHP systems into Symfony. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, the role involves enhancing infrastructure, ensuring security, and managing releases across multiple platforms. Ideal candidates have strong PHP experience, familiarity with DevOps principles, and Linux admin skills. This is a long-term opportunity in a stable environment with some weekend support required.

Qualifications

• Experience in modernizing legacy systems, preferably with Symfony.
• Confident in CI/CD and automation.
• Experience with Linux (Ubuntu) administration.

Responsibilities

• Modernise and rebuild legacy PHP systems into Symfony.
• Deliver new platform features aligned to business needs.
• Own release management across various systems.
• Maintain CI pipelines and automate processes.
• Support Ubuntu infrastructure and key web services.
• Strengthen security controls.
• Improve resilience through disaster recovery testing.

Skills

PHP

Web engineering

DevOps fundamentals

Automation scripting

Linux (Ubuntu)

Security awareness

Job description

We’re recruiting on behalf of an established UK digital healthcare business for a Senior / Lead Developer to join their long-standing tech team. You’ll work alongside experienced engineers (including a senior programmer and a front-end developer) and help shape and deliver the IT strategy while keeping day-to-day operations stable and secure for a high-availability, patient-facing platform.

This role suits someone who enjoys a mix of hands‑on development and pragmatic infrastructure / DevOps ownership, and who’s looking for a long‑term position in a mature, stable environment.

What you’ll be working on

A major current initiative is a migration / rebuild from a legacy Zend framework to Symfony. Alongside that, you’ll help maintain and improve the business’ infrastructure, security posture, and release processes across multiple systems.

Key responsibilities

• Modernise and rebuild legacy PHP systems into Symfony.
• Deliver new platform features aligned to business and clinical requirements.
• Own / support release management across three systems (public website, admin, pharmacy dispensing).
• Maintain and improve CI pipelines, automation (Ansible / Bash), and code / security reviews.
• Support Ubuntu infrastructure, monitoring, and key services (Nginx, PHP, fail2ban, email, private networking).
• Strengthen security controls : firewalls, VPN, DNS, and secure server configuration.
• Improve resilience via regular disaster recovery testing and DR plan evolution.
• Provide operational support for internal stakeholders (including workflow‑critical queries and staff IT support).

What we’re looking for

• Strong PHP / web engineering background with real experience modernising legacy systems (Symfony ideal).
• Confident across DevOps fundamentals : CI / CD, releases, scripting / automation.
• Linux (Ubuntu) admin experience and comfort maintaining core web services.
• Security awareness across infrastructure, networking, and access controls.
• Reliable, flexible approach (some weekend support required).

At Stockford Recruitment, we help startups and SMEs grow by connecting them with exceptional tech talent. We are committed to the growth of our candidates and clients.

We review every application carefully, but due to the volume we receive, we may not be able to respond to everyone individually.

If you haven’t heard back within 10 working days, please don’t be discouraged – new opportunities are always coming up, and we’d love for you to stay connected with us…