Backend Developer - Laravel/PHP - Part-time

About the Role

We are seeking a Backend Developer - PHP/Laravel to help build and maintain our growing digital ecosystem. While our suite of products spans a public website, an LMS, interactive youth games, and sports-data platforms (like STEM Replay), your work will focus on prioritized backend features, API integrations, and database maintenance across 1-2 key platforms at a time.

You will work closely with our Technical Lead to translate requirements into reliable features. We are looking for someone who writes clean, testable code, understands how backend decisions impact the complete user experience, and thrives in a collaborative, remote environment.

Benefits

• Monthly salary: 925 USD
• Major and minor medical expense insurance.
• Christmas bonus (Aguinaldo).
• Mental health support.
• Up to 3 days of sick leave with full pay.
• Vacation bonus equivalent to 25% of the corresponding vacation days.
• Professional Growth & Upskilling Opportunity.

Key Responsibilities

• Backend Development: Build and maintain scalable features using PHP 8.1+ and Laravel 10+.
• API & Integrations: Design, build, and consume REST APIs. Integrate third-party services, external sports-data feeds, and communication tools.
• Data Architecture: Design and modify MySQL tables, migrations, and indexes. Write efficient queries and manage data structures.
• Background Processing: Implement queues, scheduled tasks, webhooks, and background jobs.
• Testing & QA: Write automated tests (PHPUnit/Pest) for new functionality and critical workflows. Troubleshoot application errors and API problems.
• Collaboration: Participate in code reviews, follow Git release workflows, and document technical features.

Key Requirements

• PHP & Laravel (3+ years): Deep understanding of Laravel routing, controllers, Eloquent ORM, middleware, Form Requests, and Laravel Sanctum.
• Frontend Fundamentals (1+ years): Solid understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Fetch/AJAX to effectively support full-stack UX goals.
• Databases (1+ years): Strong SQL/MySQL skills, including relational design and diagnosing inefficient queries
• Professional English proficiency: +B2 verbal, written, and listening communication
• Clean Code: Ability to organize business logic into maintainable service classes rather than placing it entirely inside controllers.
• APIs: Strong experience with JSON, pagination, rate limits, webhooks, error handling, and asynchronous processing.
• AWS Basics: Working knowledge of AWS hosting (EC2, S3, RDS, SQS) to support deployments and troubleshoot infrastructure issues.

Desired skills

• Experience in EdTech
• Gamification
• Stripe integrations
• Building secure platforms for youth-serving organizations

How You’ll Work

• Collaborative Independence: You can take a defined requirement, review the existing architecture, propose an approach, and execute it. Major infrastructure or architectural decisions will be made collaboratively with the Technical Lead.
• Product Mindset: You care about the problem behind the ticket. You consider who will use the feature (students, educators, admins) and raise constructive questions if a requirement might create security, usability, or maintenance issues.
• Agile Communication: You are comfortable working in a Kanban/iterative environment (Jira/Asana/Trello), communicating risks or blockers early, and delivering work in small, testable increments.

What Success Looks Like

In your first 90 days, you will:

• Develop a solid understanding of our core application architecture, development workflow, and primary platforms (LMS, STEM Replay, Website).
• Complete assigned Laravel features and production fixes with decreasing levels of day-to-day support.
• Submit well-structured, tested, and documented pull requests.
• Successfully ship at least one meaningful digital product feature or integration that improves the platform for our users.

Working conditions

• Work environment: 100% Remote position
• Job Schedule: Monday through Friday from 08:00 to 12:00 PST

Ready to Apply?

If you are passionate about sports, education, and building impactful digital products, we would love to hear from you. Apply now!

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: $15,000.00 per month

Application Question(s):

• What is your English level from 1 to 5, with 5 being advanced?

Experience:

• Laravel: 3 years (Required)
• PHP: 3 years (Required)
• Database: 1 year (Required)
• Frontend web development: 1 year (Required)

Work Location: Remote