Lead Software Engineer-Backend (PHP)

Location: United States — Remote. Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S.; optional collaborative workspaces are available in Austin, Atlanta, and London.

National base salary: $182,000–$259,000 annually; variable compensation, equity, and benefits may also apply according to local policies.

Company

hirify.global is a product company building an open, AI-driven hirify.global ecosystem through Bighirify.global, Feedonomics, and Makeswift.

What you will do

• Define the technical vision for the domain and align projects with the broader platform vision in partnership with Staff Engineers.
• Design and implement scalable, highly available solutions for complex and ambiguous backend infrastructure problems.
• Own end-to-end technical project execution, including scoping, sequencing, forecasting completion dates, and delivery.
• Lead RFCs and architectural discussions, evaluating tools, technologies, and processes for concrete business needs.
• Monitor services, improve infrastructure and systems, strengthen CI/CD automation, and conduct post-mortems to prevent recurring failures.
• Mentor multiple engineers, support education and documentation, and build relationships with partner teams for cross-functional alignment.

Requirements

• 7+ years of programming experience in backend languages.
• Strong PHP experience.
• Extensive MySQL or similar database experience, including schema design, caching, and scalability.
• Strong understanding of communication protocols such as TCP and gRPC and of distributed systems.
• Ability to perform time and memory complexity analysis.
• Experience with caching technologies such as Redis or Memcached.
• Solid understanding of Linux operating systems and experience with modern CI/CD and containerization tools such as Docker.
• Experience with cloud solutions and full-stack observability frameworks and tools.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Authorization to work in the U.S.
• BS or higher degree in Computer Science or a related technical field.

Nice to have

• Experience with Python, Go, Java, or a similar programming language.
• DevOps experience.
• Experience with GCP.
• Experience with OTel.

Culture & Benefits

• Remote-first work environment.
• Optional collaborative workspaces in Austin, Atlanta, and London for gatherings, workshops, and in-person connection.
• Potential variable compensation, equity, and benefits subject to local policies.
• Inclusive and accessible hiring experience with accommodations available upon request.

Hiring process

• The interview process includes government ID and biometric verification through Persona.
• Final compensation is determined based on experience, skills, qualifications, geographic location, internal equity, and individual contribution.