Job Opportunities API

Why this role exists We’re building and evolving a custom PHP web application that powers real-world operations. No hand-holding frameworks here — just clean, object‑oriented PHP, RESTful services, and a stack that rewards engineers who love understanding  how things actually work . If you enjoy getting close to the metal with Core/Vanilla PHP, care about performance, and can comfortably move between data layers, UI, and cloud infrastructure, you’ll feel right at home. What you’ll do (the work) Ship features  end‑to‑end in a  framework‑free, OOP PHP  codebase (namespaces, interfaces, traits, SOLID principles). Design and implement  RESTful endpoints  (JSON), including request validation, pagination, error handling, and versioning. Write robust  SQL  (DDL/DML), optimise queries and indexes, and integrate via  PDO  with prepared statements. Work with  MongoDB  for document‑oriented use cases; design efficient schemas and aggregation pipelines where relevant. Build and enhance  front‑end interactions  with  jQuery ,  HTML/CSS , and  Tailwind CSS  for fast, clean UI work. Integrate  external APIs  (REST/Webhooks), handle oauth/token flows, retries, idempotency, and rate‑limit strategy. Operate in  AWS : deploy apps on  Elastic Beanstalk , manage assets in  S3 , use  DynamoDB  where appropriate, and keep environments healthy (logs, scaling, env vars). Handle  SSL/TLS certificate management  and  DNS  via  Cloudflare ; ensure zero‑downtime renewals and sane caching rules. Work with  WordPress CMS  where needed (content ingestion/integration, headless endpoints, custom fields/templates). Pair closely with another  Senior Developer  who knows the platform inside‑out; take part in code reviews and architecture discussions. Own quality: write pragmatic tests, instrument metrics, document decisions, and leave the codebase tidier than you found it. The environment (important context) No modern PHP frameworks.  We use  Core/Vanilla PHP  with strong OOP. If your superpower is Laravel or Symfony  only , this role isn’t the right fit. We follow  OOP and RESTful  design practices, emphasising clarity, testability, and performance. We value  speed with discipline : small PRs, sensible testing, continuous improvement. Must‑have skills & experience Core/Vanilla PHP  (7.x/8.x) with  OOP : interfaces, traits, namespaces, dependency injection, SOLID. RESTful API  design & implementation (JSON), auth patterns, and versioning. SQL  mastery (query optimisation, indexing, transactions) and  PDO  best practices. MongoDB  fundamentals (schema design, aggregations, performance basics). Front‑end:   jQuery , semantic  HTML , modern  CSS , and  Tailwind CSS  utility workflows. External API  integrations (OAuth, webhooks, retries, idempotency, error/bounce handling). AWS:  Elastic Beanstalk deployments, S3 lifecycle, DynamoDB usage, environment configuration, logging/monitoring basics. Security : input validation, CSRF/XSS/SQL injection prevention, secrets management, and safe file handling. SSL/TLS & DNS  via  Cloudflare  (including HSTS, redirects, caching/CDN rulesets, cert renewals). WordPress CMS  experience (admin/config, theme/plugin interaction, or headless/REST usage). Git  and collaborative workflows (feature branches, code reviews, CI basics). Comfortable with  Linux/CLI  for diagnostics and automation. Nice to have (bonus points) Experience with  queues/workers  for background jobs. Testing : PHPUnit or similar; integration test mindset. Perfor