About the job

Senior Software Engineer (Backend / Systems Design)
We’re working with a well-established, private equity-backed technology business operating across multiple international markets. The company builds and delivers critical, high-availability systems within sectors that demand reliability, scalability and long-term performance. Following continued growth and system evolution, they are looking to strengthen their engineering team with a senior hire.


This is a senior-level Software Engineer role focused on designing, building and evolving large-scale, high-capacity systems within a complex, distributed environment.


The Role
*Design and build scalable, event-driven and distributed systems
*Translate product requirements into robust technical solutions and architecture
*Contribute across the full development lifecycle: planning, design, implementation and optimisation
*Maintain a balance of ~70% hands-on coding and ~30% architecture, planning and collaboration
*Work closely with Product and Engineering teams to define and refine system requirements
*Ensure high standards across code quality, testing and maintainability
*Support and mentor other engineers, contributing to coding standards and best practices
*Participate in code reviews, technical discussions and continuous improvement initiatives
*Troubleshoot complex issues across the system lifecycle


Tech Environment
*Predominantly PHP, including legacy systems (KPHP) transitioning to Laravel
*Some C# exposure – not essential but beneficial
*Backend-focused, with rare occasional frontend interaction (non-UI heavy systems)
*Event-driven architecture and distributed systems at scale


What They’re Looking For
*Strong fundamentals in software engineering and system design
*Experience building and scaling backend systems in complex environments
*Ability to design for performance, reliability and future scalability
*Comfortable working across legacy and modernising tech stacks
*Experience working with Product teams on requirements and planning
*Solid understanding of coding standards, testing (TDD beneficial), and software quality
*Mentoring or guiding other engineers
*Exposure to distributed systems or high-throughput environments
*Frontend experience is a bonus, not a requirement


Salary & Benefits
*£75,000 base salary
*5% annual bonus
*Benefits package included


Working Setup
*Hybrid environment with flexibility (typically up to 3 days in office, though this varies in practice and can be less)


Additional Notes
*Strong emphasis on core engineering fundamentals over reliance on tooling such as AI
*Candidates should be pragmatic, collaborative and technically grounded