PHP Developer

Backend Developer – PHP / Laravel

Location:

Leeds (Hybrid – 3 days per week onsite)
Salary: £45,000–£65,000 DOE + discretionary bonus

The opportunity
We're looking for a talented PHP / Laravel Backend Developer to join an established, award-winning digital agency delivering high-quality websites and digital experiences for a diverse portfolio of clients.

The business is open to considering developers at both Mid-Level (£34k–£50k) and Senior (£50k–£65k), with responsibilities and technical ownership tailored to your experience.

This is an opportunity to work across a variety of technically interesting projects, from content-rich marketing websites and bespoke CMS implementations to more complex digital platforms and backend integrations.

You'll be working within a collaborative development team, alongside frontend developers, UX/UI designers and project managers, helping deliver reliable, maintainable and intuitive digital solutions.

You'll join an employee-owned, certified B Corp business that places a strong emphasis on quality, collaboration and continuous improvement, with excellent opportunities for personal and professional development.

What you'll be doing
As a Backend Developer, you'll play an important role in building, maintaining and improving client websites and digital platforms, with a particular focus on PHP, Laravel and CMS-driven development.

The level of technical ownership will vary depending on your experience, with more senior developers taking greater responsibility for architecture, solution design and technical decision-making.

Key responsibilities include:

Developing and maintaining backend applications and website functionality using PHP and Laravel

Building and supporting CMS-driven websites, including bespoke functionality, content structures and integrations

Designing logical content models and intuitive CMS architectures that make websites easy for clients to manage

Translating website designs, client briefs and business requirements into effective backend solutions

Working closely with frontend developers, UX/UI designers and project managers throughout the development lifecycle

Contributing to technical specifications, project scoping and development estimates

Delivering clean, efficient and maintainable code to agreed timelines

Supporting website improvements, ongoing maintenance and client retainers

Troubleshooting technical challenges and improving website performance, security and reliability

Collaborating with the wider team to explore new technologies and improve development practices

For more senior developers, taking greater ownership of technical architecture, code quality and supporting less experienced team members

What we're looking for Essential experience:

Strong commercial experience developing backend applications and websites using PHP

Good knowledge of Laravel, its ecosystem and modern PHP development practices

Experience working with CMS platforms such as Craft CMS, Word Press or similar

Understanding of CMS architecture, content modelling and bespoke website functionality

Ability to translate designs and requirements into logical backend structures

Experience integrating backend functionality with frontend websites and third-party services

Comfortable collaborating with multidisciplinary teams and managing work across multiple projects

A strong understanding of clean code, maintainability and development best practices
Desirable experience:

Hands-on experience with Craft CMS, particularly custom modules, plugins and CMS architecture

Previous experience within a digital, creative or web development agency

Experience with the Yii framework

Familiarity with frontend technologies such as Vue.js and Tailwind CSS

Experience developing APIs and integrating third-party…