Senior PHP Backend Architect & Tech Lead

Squadio23; Saudi Arabia; On-site; SAR 300,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

Squadio23 in Saudi Arabia seeks a Senior PHP Backend Developer to lead the design and development of robust, scalable backend systems. You will mentor engineers and drive technical excellence across the lifecycle.

Responsibilities include leading backend architecture, collaborating with frontend, product, and DevOps; optimizing MySQL schemas; integrating APIs and microservices; enforcing security, performance, and code quality; contributing to CI/CD and cloud deployments; mentoring juniors and

Qualifications

• 7+ years of backend development experience with PHP and frameworks (Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter).
• Strong software architecture understanding, design patterns (SOLID, MVC).
• Hands-on with RESTful APIs, microservices, and third-party API integrations.
• Advanced MySQL knowledge: query optimization and schema design.
• Proficient in Git and collaborative workflows (pull requests, code reviews).
• Experience with deployment automation and cloud infrastructure (AWS/Azure).
• Familiarity with frontend basics (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and backend integration.
• Excellent problem-solving, debugging, and analytical skills.
• Strong communication and leadership with mentoring abilities.
• Commitment to engineering excellence and continuous learning.

Responsibilities

• Lead backend architecture and development efforts for PHP-based systems.
• Collaborate with front-end engineers, product managers, and DevOps to define technical solutions.
• Design and optimize databases, including data migrations and high-performance SQL queries.
• Integrate external APIs and internal microservices for interoperable systems.
• Implement robust security practices: authentication, authorization, input validation.
• Drive performance optimization: caching layers, bottleneck fixes, backend efficiency.
• Oversee code quality through reviews and enforce clean coding practices.
• Stay ahead of trends, evaluate and adopt new PHP frameworks and patterns.
• Contribute to DevOps and CI/CD initiatives for smooth deployments.
• Provide mentorship and support production systems, ensuring high availability.

Skills

PHP

Laravel

Symfony

CodeIgniter

REST APIs

Microservices

MySQL

SOLID principles

MVC

Leadership

Tools

Git

Docker

CI/CD

AWS

Azure

Job description

Squadio23 in Saudi Arabia seeks a Senior PHP Backend Developer to lead the design and development of robust, scalable backend systems. You will mentor engineers and drive technical excellence across the lifecycle.

Responsibilities include leading backend architecture, collaborating with frontend, product, and DevOps; optimizing MySQL schemas; integrating APIs and microservices; enforcing security, performance, and code quality; contributing to CI/CD and cloud deployments; mentoring juniors and