Remote Senior PHP Backend Engineer: Microservices & Data

Smart Working; Islamabad Capital Territory; Remote; PKR 16,625,000 - 33,250,000; Full time

Job summary

Smart Working seeks a Senior Backend Engineer to own large-scale production systems, including GPS/telematics ingestion, DVR video, and real-time alerts. You will modernize the backend, migrate Yii2 to Laravel, and migrate MariaDB to PostgreSQL while collaborating with AI/computer vision efforts.

You will operate in a small senior team, delivering robust APIs for web/mobile partners, and applying architectural judgement to complex systems with data integrity at the core.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of commercial PHP backend development at Expert level.
• 5+ years of experience with large-scale SaaS or complex production systems at Expert level.
• 3+ years of PostgreSQL experience at Advanced level.
• 5+ years of API design and third-party integration experience at Advanced level.
• 3+ years of high-volume data processing experience at Advanced level (IoT/data ingestion acceptable).
• 3+ years of Laravel and/or Yii2 experience at Advanced level.
• 3+ years of PHPUnit experience at Advanced level.
• 2+ years of microservices or monolith-decomposition experience at Intermediate level.
• 2+ years of AWS experience at Intermediate level.
• Experience in telematics, fleet or logistics domain; IoT/location tech a plus.
• Experience with video/CCTV or large media file handling; scalable storage/retention a plus.
• Ability to take end-to-end ownership of mature production systems with strong technical judgement.
• Strong complex-system exposure is essential.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the PHP backend that ingests GPS and telematics data, safety hardware events and DVR video, and sends real-time alerts.
• Build and maintain APIs used by the web platform, mobile application and integration partners.
• Deliver the ongoing Yii2-to-Laravel migration, with Yii2 at end of life and approximately a year remaining to complete the migration.
• Deliver the ongoing MariaDB-to-PostgreSQL migration.
• Support the decomposition of the existing monolith into microservices.
• Take over systems from a retiring contractor and become productive quickly despite limited documentation.
• Support the backend for the AI product line, collaborating with the computer vision lead; scope to be confirmed.
• Take end-to-end ownership of production systems rather than requiring prior people-management experience.
• Work independently within a small senior team while collaborating on AI-related work.
• Apply architectural judgement to microservices and database migrations, with data integrity in mind.
• Work with Bitbucket Pipelines and PHPUnit in a small team with light process.
• Contribute as a problem-solver to production engineering decisions.
• Ramp up quickly for the required start date and work on production systems used by local authorities.

Job description

Smart Working seeks a Senior Backend Engineer to own large-scale production systems, including GPS/telematics ingestion, DVR video, and real-time alerts. You will modernize the backend, migrate Yii2 to Laravel, and migrate MariaDB to PostgreSQL while collaborating with AI/computer vision efforts.

You will operate in a small senior team, delivering robust APIs for web/mobile partners, and applying architectural judgement to complex systems with data integrity at the core.