Senior Engineer - PHP | Citation Group | Background Screening - uCheck Work Innovation, Build Robust Systems, Shape the Future of Background Checking What You'll Do: Design, guide, and validate high-performance, scalable PHP applications - increasingly through AI-assisted development where your judgment on what gets built matters as much as the building itself Critically assess AI-generated code and plans before they reach production - distinguishing between output that works and output that's right Modernize and maintain legacy PHP codebases with continuous refactoring approaches Maintain architectural integrity across the codebase, identifying when local changes create systemic problems Deploy production code with confidence using Terraform and GitHub Actions Collaborate cross-functionally with engineers, UX designers, and our product team Your Expertise: Strong software engineer with proven architectural thinking - you see systems and interactions, not just components Already using AI coding tools (GitHub Copilot, Claude, Cursor) and have formed opinions about what works and what doesn't - you can articulate why, and you're open to having those opinions challenged Experience building and maintaining RESTful APIs and production systems at scale Quality focused for both human and AI-generated output: you question, challenge, and you won't ship something that "mostly works" Exposure to Symfony and an understanding of modern PHP practices; comfortable working with both modern frameworks and legacy codebases Solid understanding of software architecture, design patterns, and secure coding practices Hands-on experience with AWS, cloud services, and modern deployment practices Comfortable with ambiguity - you can make sound judgment calls when there's no clear right answer Disciplined under delivery pressure: you follow process (plan review, documentation, quality gates) even when it's tempting to skip steps Why Citation? Hybird work with excellent work-life balance. We meet every week at our Exeter offices Continuous learning and growth opportunities Competitive salary comprehensive benefits 25 days holiday birthday off Healthcare and gym membership discounts Opportunity to purchase extra leave Pension contributions