Laravel PHP Engineer—Hybrid, API-Driven, Impactful

First Focus; Nelson; Hybrid; NZD 160,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid and flexible working

Up to 10 paid study days per year

Uprise mental health coaching

Regular social events

Diverse projects across industries

Modern technologies and engineering

Opportunity to influence architecture

Collaborative engineering culture

Career growth through certifications

Job summary

First Focus in New Zealand is seeking an experienced Laravel/PHP Developer to join our Technology team on a 12 month fixed term contract. You’ll contribute across multiple client engagements and internal initiatives, delivering robust business applications with Laravel, Laravel Filament and modern PHP tooling.

You’ll influence architecture, mentor peers and stay hands-on while helping shape technical direction across projects. No two weeks are the same in this dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Extensive commercial experience with PHP and Laravel
• Strong experience with Laravel Filament
• Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs
• Excellent SQL skills across MySQL and PostgreSQL
• Experience with Git, CI/CD and modern development workflows
• Docker and containerisation experience
• Exposure to cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud
• A solid understanding of software architecture and design patterns
• Experience with Vue.js or React
• Experience working within Agile teams
• Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• A natural curiosity and genuine enjoyment of solving business problems

Responsibilities

• Developing, enhancing and maintaining Laravel applications across multiple customer environments and internal platforms
• Building scalable ERP and CRM solutions
• Designing and developing RESTful APIs and third-party integrations
• Building intuitive administration interfaces using Laravel Filament
• Optimising MySQL and PostgreSQL databases for performance and scalability
• Contributing to architecture, design decisions and engineering standards
• Implementing and improving CI/CD pipelines and deployment practices
• Working with Docker and cloud platforms including AWS, Azure or Google Cloud
• Exploring AI-assisted development where it delivers genuine customer value
• Participating in code reviews and sharing knowledge across the engineering team
• Mentoring developers and contributing to a collaborative engineering culture

Skills

PHP & Laravel

Laravel Filament

RESTful APIs

SQL (MySQL & PostgreSQL)

Git & CI/CD

Docker & containerisation

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Software architecture & design

Frontend frameworks (Vue.js/React)

Agile methodologies

Stakeholder communication

Tools

Docker

Git

CI/CD

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

Job description

First Focus in New Zealand is seeking an experienced Laravel/PHP Developer to join our Technology team on a 12 month fixed term contract. You’ll contribute across multiple client engagements and internal initiatives, delivering robust business applications with Laravel, Laravel Filament and modern PHP tooling.

You’ll influence architecture, mentor peers and stay hands-on while helping shape technical direction across projects. No two weeks are the same in this dynamic environment.