Senior PHP Backend Engineer

We are looking for an experienced Backend Engineer to join our growing engineering team and contribute to the development of a large-scale, business-critical platform.

This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys solving complex technical challenges, takes ownership of outcomes, and understands that software development is about delivering business value—not just completing tasks. You will work on high-traffic systems, scalable backend services, real-time communication features, and integrations that support core product functionality.

We are seeking someone who can think beyond individual tickets, understand the broader product vision, and actively contribute to technical and architectural decisions.

The Team:

We are an ambitious, fast-growing team that is scaling rapidly. Today, we are 70 people strong. Our team is highly professional, outcome-driven, and deeply committed to delivering exceptional results. We operate with very few junior-level employees, and in our technical organisation, there are no juniors at all. This allows us to move quickly, make high-quality decisions, and maintain a strong culture of ownership and excellence.

We work in a flexible hybrid environment. Part of the team is based in our Vilnius office, while the majority works in a hybrid setup, and several colleagues operate fully remotely. What unites us is not location, but our shared mindset — curiosity, responsibility, and a desire to build meaningful technology.

Within the team, you’ll find AI architects, senior engineers, experienced product owners, and domain experts who collaborate closely to solve complex problems and shape the future of our platform. It’s the kind of environment where you learn from the best, have real impact, and contribute to something that scales fast.

If you want to join a highly skilled, fast-moving team and help build a company during its most exciting phase — you’ll feel at home here.

Our Recruitment Process:

Recruitment process will consist of two interviews, one with CTO and Chief Product Owner, another one, short one, with Engineering manager in final hiring stages. Discussions will be held with PO‘s, small test task might be provided to understand the thought process, task will be not useful for Copla‘s product or deliveries.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and maintain backend services using PHP and Go (optional).
  
• Build and optimize REST APIs and integrations with internal and external systems.
  
• Develop and maintain real-time communication solutions using WebSockets.
  
• Design and optimize data models and queries in PostgreSQL.
  
• Implement and improve search capabilities using OpenSearch.
  
• Work with containerized environments using Docker.
  
• Contribute to system architecture discussions and technical decision-making.
  
• Identify performance bottlenecks and implement scalable solutions.
  
• Collaborate closely with product, engineering, and business stakeholders to ensure technical solutions align with business goals.
  
• Participate in code reviews and help maintain high engineering standards.
  
• Take ownership of features and services throughout their entire lifecycle.
  

What you will gain at Copla:

• Architectural ownership of a security-focused SaaS platform operating in a highly regulated domain.
  
• The opportunity to design and evolve multi-tenant, high-availability systems with complex permission models and strict data isolation requirements.
  
• Real-world experience translating ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIS2, and DORA requirements into scalable technical architecture — not just documentation, but working systems.
  

Responsibility for designing and improving:
– Access control systems (RBAC, fine-grained permissions).
– Audit logging and traceability layers.
– Evidence collection engines.
– Secure data lifecycle management.

Influence over backend architecture (Laravel) including performance optimization, modularization, and long-term maintainability and ability to shape engineering standards around:
– Secure coding practices.
– Test strategy and automation.
– Observability and system reliability.

Experience solving non-trivial challenges in:
– Multi-tenancy at scale.
– Complex relational data modeling.
– High-volume audit data processing.
– Enterprise integrations (SSO, APIs, third-party tooling).
– Close collaboration with CISOs and security leaders — gaining rare domain expertise at the intersection of engineering and governance.
– A platform where technical decisions directly impact how companies manage risk and compliance.

5+ years of hands-on experience with most of the following technologies:

• PHP (Laravel or Symfony, though we prefer Laravel)
  
• Go (optional). If you’re a senior PHP developer and want to learn Go alongside PHP, that’s a great fit.
  
• Docker.
  
• WebSockets.
  
• PostgreSQL.
  
• OpenSearch.
  
• REST APIs.
  
• Experience working on large-scale, complex, or high-traffic applications.
  
• Strong understanding of backend architecture, API design, and distributed systems principles.
  
• Experience troubleshooting production issues and improving system reliability.
  
• Solid knowledge of software engineering best practices, including testing, code reviews, and maintainability.
  
• Ability to work independently and make sound technical decisions.
  

Nice to Have:

• Experience with microservice architectures.
  
• Experience with cloud-based infrastructure and deployment environments.
  
• Knowledge of performance optimization and scalability strategies.
  
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
  
• Experience working in product-focused technology companies.

We value engineers who take responsibility for outcomes, not just deliverables. Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• Strong ownership and accountability.
  
• The ability to understand business objectives behind technical requirements.
  
• A proactive approach to identifying problems and proposing solutions.
  
• Sound engineering judgment when making technical trade-offs.
  
• Curiosity and a willingness to challenge assumptions when appropriate.
  
• The ability to work effectively with minimal supervision.
  
• A product mindset and genuine interest in how technology creates value for customers.
  
• We are not looking for someone who simply completes tasks based on a Jira description. We are looking for an engineer who understands the bigger picture, contributes ideas, and takes pride in building reliable, scalable products.

5500-7750 €/mėn. neatskaičius mokesčių

Raitininkų gatvė, Vilnius, Vilniaus m. sav. Apskaičiuokite kelionės laiką iki darbo