TL;DR

Senior Developer (PHP/Laravel): Building and optimizing high-load backend services for an audio streaming and recording platform with an accent on API design, database performance, and scalability. Focus on evolving microservices architecture, solving complex concurrency challenges, and ensuring system reliability under heavy traffic.

Location: Remote from anywhere in the UK

Company

SharpStream, part of %hirify_global%, provides a market-leading intelligent distribution network enabling clients to stream, monetize, and report audio content globally.

What you will do

Develop and evolve the Rewind stream recording platform from proof of concept into full production.
Work on systems for capturing live streams, generating HLS segments, and creating reliable recordings.
Push recordings to S3 or internal content management platforms, forming part of the audio delivery pipeline.
Actively evolve the architecture, including moving from container-based workloads to native AWS services.
Support and enhance existing products like TimbreCMS, Portal, and EdgeCP.
Collaborate with Streaming Infrastructure and Customer Success teams to deliver stable, performant, and scalable solutions.

Requirements

5+ years of professional experience with PHP and Laravel.
Strong understanding of Laravel best practices, design patterns, and available tools.
Proven ability to write performant MySQL queries beyond basic Eloquent usage.
Experience building API-first / headless applications.
Proficiency with Docker for local and production environments.
Experience managing or scaling AWS environments (EC2, ECS, ElastiCache, RDS).
Strong experience with Unit Testing, TDD, and Functional Testing.
Excellent communication skills.

Nice to have

Experience with Java.
Familiarity with media technologies such as LiquidSoap, FFMPEG, and metadata manipulation.
Familiarity with streaming technologies such as AIS and IceCast.
Background in audio or broadcast engineering.

Culture & Benefits

Work from anywhere in the UK, with occasional in-person meetings and social gatherings in London.
Small, collaborative team valuing autonomy and ownership.
TDD-first approach to development with a focus on clean, well-structured code.
Flexible working to support work-life balance.
28 Days Annual Leave plus Bank holidays.
Access to various salary sacrifice schemes and benefits from the ‘Benefits Box’.

Hiring process

Stage 1: Meet and greet with the Head of Development.
Stage 2: Technical interview with a practical element.
Stage 3: Interview with representatives from Customer Success, Managing Director, and Streaming Infrastructure team.