Senior PHP Developer

SERPA Media GROUP is a rapidly growing digital products company. We’re looking for an experienced, technically strong Senior Backend PHP Developer to join our team and help build the core platform that powers our business—both its development and architecture. If you’re passionate about building complex systems, developing high-performance APIs, and want your work to directly shape the company’s technological foundation, this role is for you.

Your main responsibilities

  • Develop and evolve our central content management platform built on Laravel.

  • Design, build, and maintain scalable, modular, and easily extensible systems in line with Clean Architecture and Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles.

  • Apply and implement best-practice programming patterns: Repository, Service Layer, Observer, Strategy, Factory, Decorator, etc.

  • Build robust, secure, and optimized APIs, following SOLID principles, KISS, DRY, and a Single Source of Truth approach.

  • Work with MySQL 8.x and other data stores, covering data modeling, migration versioning, and query optimization.

  • Implement caching solutions (Redis, Varnish) and other performance-enhancing components.

  • Ensure high code quality through unit, integration, and feature tests, as well as static analysis (PHPStan, Psalm, SonarQube).

  • Actively contribute to strategic architectural decisions and technology choices.

  • Collaborate on infrastructure and development-process maintenance to optimize development, deployment, and monitoring (CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code).

We expect

  • At least 5 years of PHP development experience, including architecture for complex, high-load systems.

  • Expert-level knowledge and hands-on experience with the Laravel framework, including deep understanding of its internal architecture and mechanisms (Service Container, Service Providers, Middleware pipeline, Eloquent ORM, Event and Queue systems, etc.).

  • Practical experience with Clean Architecture, Hexagonal Architecture, or Domain-Driven Design.

  • Ability to design systems that support event-driven, asynchronous, and distributed approaches.

  • In-depth knowledge of API design principles (REST, JSON:API), real-time data exchange (Server-Sent Events, WebSocket), and data validation, versioning, and documentation (OpenAPI/Swagger).

  • Strong experience with MySQL or similar RDBMS, including index planning and query optimization.

  • Experience with version control (Git), branching models (GitFlow, Trunk-Based Development), and code review processes.

  • Excellent problem-solving skills and a strong sense of ownership.

  • Experience applying design patterns in real systems, not just theoretical understanding.

Technology style and quality principles

We are actively working toward a clear and consistent technology style guide to help the team maintain high code quality and consistency. Currently, we follow these core principles:

  • Coding standards: PSR-12, with unified code-style checks and automatic formatting tools (PHP-CS-Fixer).

  • Architectural approach: Clean and Hexagonal Architecture, emphasizing strict separation of domain logic from infrastructure components.

  • Patterns: Systematic use of Repository, Service Layer, Value Objects, Aggregates, and Event Dispatching.

  • Testing strategy: Unit, integration, and feature tests using PHPUnit and Mockery.

  • Performance & maintainability: Caching, indexing, lazy-loading optimization, and a sensible balance between Query Builder and Eloquent ORM.

Nice to have

  • Experience with caching solutions (Redis, Varnish).

  • CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI).

  • Configuration management tools (Ansible, Terraform).

  • AWS services (S3, CloudFront, SES, EC2, RDS).

  • Microservices architecture, service discovery, and API gateway solutions.

We offer

  • Competitive compensation starting from €3,000 gross, depending on your experience and skills, with growth and bonus opportunities.

  • The chance to directly influence our platform’s evolution and work with modern technologies.

  • Flexible working hours and the option to work partially remotely.

  • A modern office in central Riga with great amenities and paid lunches.

  • An annual professional development budget (conferences, courses, certifications).

  • Paid birthday leave and additional paid days off.

  • A supportive, professional, and friendly team where we work hard—and celebrate our achievements together.

Send your CV & Motivation letter to: [email protected]

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