Senior Backend Developer

Rentman; Utrecht; On-site; EUR 65.000 - 85.000; Full time

Job summary

A growing technology firm based in Utrecht is seeking a Senior Backend Developer to lead backend feature development in PHP and MySQL. You will mentor junior developers and take ownership of new product areas while working in a collaborative environment. This role offers an inclusive, motivated team atmosphere and various perks including a bonus, flexible work options, and a vibrant office space.

Benefits

13th month annual bonus based on company results

25 days of paid vacation plus additional days

Paid 4-week sabbatical after 5 years

Flexible WFH policy

Annual training budget

Pension plan via BrightPensioen

Access to mental well-being support

Sports activities and fitness subscription

OV Business card for commuting

Free lunches and office perks

Qualifications

• 6+ years of backend development experience, with at least 3 years in a senior role.
• Experience leading complex feature development end-to-end.
• Strong problem-solving ability, balancing long-term quality with fast-paced delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of new backend features in PHP and MySQL.
• Take ownership of new product areas from architecture to deployment.
• Mentor junior and mid-level developers, guiding code reviews.

Skills

Strong PHP skills

Deep SQL expertise

Mentorship mindset

Strong problem-solving ability

Collaborative communicator

Tools

AWS

Laravel

Symfony

Job description

Join Rentman as a Senior Backend Developer

Mission of this role

As a Senior Backend Developer, you’ll help design and build new strategic product areas — such as crew & equipment management and a project management board — while safeguarding long-term quality and scalability. You’ll bring technical depth to a young, enthusiastic team, provide mentorship, and play a key role in raising the maturity of technical decision-making.

What are you going to do?

• Lead the design and implementation of new backend features in PHP and MySQL, ensuring scalability and maintainability.
• Take ownership of new product areas (crew & equipment, project management) from architecture to deployment.
• Contribute to technical refinement, helping the team balance new feature excitement with sustainable practices.
• Mentor junior and mid-level developers, guiding code reviews and supporting their growth.
• Collaborate with frontend engineers, product managers, and architects to align requirements and anticipate trade-offs.
• Help the team transition from a custom PHP framework toward Symfony/Laravel practices.
• Proactively identify risks, surface technical debt, and propose solutions.

Our Stack

Rentman is a modern cloud-based web application relied on daily by our users to administer the movement of equipment and access data on the go.

Back-end

• From a back-end perspective, Rentman consists of our internal API, a public API and a set of microservices. The internal API is quite intense on complex database calculations.
• Modern version of PHP and MySQL, used in our internal API
• Modern versions of Laravel, used by some of the microservices
• Our backend is deployed on AWS
• We work based on Continuous integration, so our systems can be separately run on different versions

Testing Approach

• Automated unit testing on every pull request
• Automated E2E tests with Ghost Inspector, running weekly and on-demand
• Automated mobile app tests with Appium and Webdriverio
• Weekly manual regression testing
• Manual testing on-demand

Methodology

We follow Scrum with two-week sprints and weekly releases. Our five self-organising development teams each focus on their own product stream and consist of a product owner and 4 to 6 frontend or backend developers, one of whom has the role of Scrum Master. A dedicated QA team supports testing and manages regression tests and releases. During a weekly Tech Alignment meeting, developers together with the CTO discuss technology, address technical debt and decide on our technical roadmap. A 20% sprint capacity can be allocated to initiatives on the technical roadmap.

Essential attributes to be a successful Backend Developer

• 6+ years of backend development experience, with at least 3 years in a senior role.
• Strong PHP skills (modern versions), with proven experience scaling real-world systems.
• Deep SQL expertise, including database design and performance optimisation.
• Experience leading complex feature development end-to-end.
• Mentorship mindset — able to coach, review, and set technical standards for younger teammates.
• Strong problem-solving ability, balancing long-term quality with fast-paced delivery.
• Collaborative communicator who can bring focus and structure to an enthusiastic team.

Nice-to-have attributes

• Experience with Symfony, Laravel, or other modern PHP frameworks.
• Familiarity with microservices, API design, and AWS.
• Background working in SaaS platforms with real-time collaboration or resource scheduling.
• Exposure to frontend or full-stack development.

What makes this role attractive

• Chance to shape new product areas from the ground up in a global SaaS platform.
• Join a young, motivated team and help raise its technical maturity.
• Scale-up environment that values enthusiasm, ownership, and innovation.

What you'll get

• An ambitious, inclusive, diverse international team
• A 13th month annual bonus based on company results
• 25 days of paid vacation, plus one extra day off each year up to your 5th anniversary
• A paid 4-week sabbatical after 5 years to go on an adventure
• Flexible WFH policy & work from anywhere for 4 weeks a year
• A shiny Windows, Linux or Mac of your choice
• An Annual training budget to boost your skills
• A pension plan via BrightPensioen
• Access to OpenUp for mental well-being and personal growth
• Sports activities (Rentman football team, squash and padel) and a fitness subscription
• An OV Business card if you live further than 10km away from the office
• A flexible and engaging work environment with free lunches, office perks (PS5, Ping Pong, D&D), legendary karaoke parties, and various team activities
• An amazing office in the heart of Utrecht, Netherlands, at the historical Drift