Principal PHP Engineer

Improving; México; On-site; MXN 600,000 - 1,100,000; Full time

Job summary

Improving is seeking a Senior/Principal Backend Engineer to join our LATAM team in Mexico. You’ll design, build and maintain production PHP applications with Laravel, focusing on scalable APIs and cloud infrastructure on AWS.

You will collaborate with product and engineering, drive architectural decisions, mentor other engineers, and help evolve the platform as data and users grow, while maintaining high standards for reliability and performance.

Qualifications

• Senior or Principal-level experience building and maintaining production PHP applications.
• Deep Laravel experience as a significant part of recent work.
• Strong background designing and building scalable backend services and REST APIs.
• Hands-on AWS experience with production applications and infrastructure.
• Solid skills in SQL/databases, testing, Git, and modern engineering practices.
• Ability to work independently and make sound architectural decisions.
• Nice to have: high-traffic, data-intensive, or SaaS applications; AWS cloud architecture design; CI/CD, Docker, observability, and infrastructure as code; large datasets, personalization, or external data platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend applications and APIs with PHP and Laravel.
• Build and enhance AWS-based services and cloud infrastructure behind the platform.
• Develop data-driven services and third-party integrations for audience engagement, data collection, segmentation, and analytics.
• Contribute to the React frontend when needed, with a primary focus on the backend.
• Take part in architecture and technical design decisions around scalability, performance, reliability, and maintainability.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and strengthen performance, reliability, and security.
• Write clean, well-tested code and contribute to code reviews and engineering standards.
• Work with product, engineering, and business stakeholders to turn requirements into technical solutions.
• Mentor other engineers and help set development best practices (Principal level).
• Help evolve the platform’s architecture as users and data volume grow.

Skills

PHP

Laravel

REST APIs

AWS

SQL

Git

Testing

Architecture

Leadership

CI/CD

Tools

Docker

CI/CD

Observability

Job description

Improving is committed to building a great place to work by cultivating an environment that fosters professional and personal relationships. We value open communication, personal growth, and shared rewards, which result in sustainable success.

Voted “best place to work” numerous times, Improving strives to create and maintain a culture that exemplifies teamwork, excellence, and fun! We believe this kind of culture encourages both the inspiration and the motivation to achieve amazing things.

Job Type: Full-Time

Location: LATAM

Country: Mexico, Central America, South America

• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend applications and APIs with PHP and Laravel
• Build and enhance AWS-based services and the cloud infrastructure behind the platform
• Develop data-driven services and third-party integrations for audience engagement, data collection, segmentation, and analytics
• Contribute to the React frontend when needed, with a primary focus on the backend
• Take part in architecture and technical design decisions around scalability, performance, reliability, and maintainability
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and strengthen performance, reliability, and security
• Write clean, well-tested code and contribute to code reviews and engineering standards
• Work with product, engineering, and business stakeholders to turn requirements into technical solutions
• Mentor other engineers and help set development best practices (Principal level)
• Help evolve the platform’s architecture as users and data volume grow

What You’ll Bring

• Senior or Principal-level experience building and maintaining production PHP applications
• Deep Laravel experience as a significant part of your recent work
• Strong background designing and building scalable backend services and REST APIs
• Hands-on AWS experience with production applications and infrastructure
• Solid skills in SQL/databases, testing, Git, and modern engineering practices
• Ability to work independently and make sound architectural decisions
• Nice to have: high-traffic, data-intensive, or SaaS applications; media, advertising, martech, CRM, or customer engagement platforms; AWS cloud architecture design; advanced React; CI/CD, Docker, observability, and infrastructure as code; large datasets, personalization, or external data platforms

Improving welcomes people from all backgrounds and walks of life, and this is reflected in our largely diverse community of Improvers. Improving is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal opportunities for all employees and applicants. Improving recruits, hires, trains, promotes, compensates, and administers all personnel actions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sex stereotyping, pregnancy (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, mental or physical disability, ancestry, medical condition, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law.

About Improving

Improving is a modern digital services company dedicated to positively changing the perception of the IT professional. We offer innovative solutions through consulting, software development, and training to help thousands of our clients achieve new heights in a competitive and ever-changing market.

As our company continues to grow, we are looking for enthusiastic thought leaders to join our team. Improving has a unique mix of passionate professionals who strive to grow and thrive in new ways. We are committed to establishing and maintaining an inclusive culture that allows all Improvers to bring their authentic selves to work each day. This is why we work hard to build inclusion and diversity in our workplace, so we can all do amazing things and succeed together.