Senior Node.js / PHP Engineer

DOU Polska; Województwo mazowieckie; Remote; PLN 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days vacation

Remote work stipend

Equity stock options

Wellness benefits

Comprehensive insurance

Job summary

DOU Polska is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer with strong PHP expertise and solid Node.js experience to join the Enterprise API & Platform API Team. You’ll modernize a PHP-based backend, evolve a monolith into modular services, and improve performance, testing, and reliability.

This hands-on role is remote-first, globally distributed, with collaboration across Product, Platform, and Engineering teams. You’ll design and maintain scalable RESTful and GraphQL APIs, refactor for performance, and

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional backend engineering experience.
• Expert PHP production experience.
• Hands-on Node.js experience.
• Experience refactoring monoliths to modular services.
• Strong REST and GraphQL API design knowledge.
• AWS Lambda/serverless experience.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Proactive, autonomous work in a remote environment.

Responsibilities

• Modernize a large PHP-based backend by extracting modular services.
• Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services using PHP and Node.js.
• Maintain RESTful and GraphQL APIs.
• Lead refactoring for performance, readability, maintainability, and scalability.
• Build, deploy, and operate backend services on AWS including Lambda and API Gateway.
• Write unit and integration tests for reliability.
• Review and refine AI-generated code.
• Identify bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement across the platform.
• Document decisions and create short video walkthroughs.
• Collaborate effectively in a remote, async-first, cross-timezone setup.

Skills

5+ years backend experience

Strong English communication

Remote / self-directed work

Tools

PHP

Node.js

REST API design

GraphQL

AWS Lambda

Serverless architectures

AI-assisted development tools

Automated testing

Job description

We’re currently looking for a Senior Backend Engineer with strong PHP expertise and solid Node.js experience to join the Enterprise API & Platform API Team.

This is a hands-on engineering role focused on modernizing and scaling a large PHP-based backend. You’ll have the opportunity to work on the evolution of a monolithic architecture into more modular, service-oriented components while improving code quality, testing, performance, and reliability.

You’ll work in a remote-first, globally distributed team, collaborating closely with Product, Platform, and Engineering teams. Your technical decisions and architectural thinking will have a direct impact on how the platform evolves and scales.

What you’ll do

• Develop a deep understanding of an existing PHP monolithic codebase and progressively extract functionality into modular, service-oriented components.
• Design, build, and maintain scalable, testable, and reusable backend services using PHP and Node.js.
• Design and maintain robust RESTful and GraphQL APIs.
• Lead and contribute to refactoring initiatives focused on performance, readability, maintainability, and scalability.
• Build, deploy, and operate backend services on AWS, including Lambda and API Gateway.
• Write and maintain unit and integration tests to ensure reliability across releases.
• Use AI coding tools effectively while critically reviewing, validating, and improving AI-generated code.
• Identify technical risks, performance bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement across the platform.
• Clearly communicate technical decisions and trade-offs through documentation and short video walkthroughs.
• Collaborate effectively within a remote, async-first, cross-timezone environment.

What we’re looking for

• 5+ years of professional backend engineering experience.
• Expert-level PHP experience, including work on enterprise-grade production systems.
• Strong hands-on experience with Node.js.
• Experience refactoring or decomposing monolithic architectures into modular services.
• Strong knowledge of backend architecture and API design, including REST and GraphQL.
• Hands-on experience with AWS, particularly Lambda and serverless architectures.
• Experience writing testable code and maintaining automated test suites.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude Code, or Cursor, with the ability to critically review and refine generated code.
• Strong written and spoken English.
• A proactive, self-directed approach and the ability to work independently, communicate clearly, and unblock yourself in a remote environment.

What you’ll get

• Great people — a talented, collaborative, and friendly international team.
• Learning & development — access to training and learning resources to support your growth.
• 26 days of vacation plus floating and company holidays.
• Wellness & work-life balance — wellness benefits and paid parental leave.
• Comprehensive insurance package covering medical, life, and business travel.
• PPK — participation in Poland’s Employee Capital Plan.
• Equity — stock options as part of the company’s equity-sharing program.
• Work-from-home stipend to help you create a comfortable home office.