Senior Backend Engineer (fully remote)

About us

Working at TravelLocal is pretty special. We get to spend our days connecting with people from all over the world. We help travellers have truly authentic experiences (and give back to the places they visit). We’re changing travel for the better, and having fun along the way.

TravelLocal is one of the most significant online marketplaces for tailor-made travel, with a strong presence in both English and German language markets. With customers in more than 100 origin countries and partners in nearly 100 destination countries, we are using technology to reimagine this sector, pioneering the “buy local” movement in travel.

Expect flexible working, a friendly and engaged team, and the chance to make a real impact.

Tasks

About you

Are you looking to combine your passion for software engineering and travel? Are you eager to constantly learn and develop? Then you will love being part of the TravelLocal team!

We are seeking a talented and experienced Senior Backend Engineer to join our team. This position requires 3+ years of professional experience with PHP frameworks, fluent and effective communication in English, being comfortable with fully remote and independent work. You will be responsible for developing the backend components of our web platform (based on the Symfony framework) to improve it for our customers, travel agencies and internal admins alike; improving the data model of our application; ensuring that implemented solutions are following tech best practices and keeping the project easily maintainable.

Responsibilities:

• Work on a web application built with a range of technologies (PHP, Symfony, TypeScript, React, Node, Next.js), focussing on the Symfony part.
• Extend and refine the data model of our application.
• Connect the system with external APIs, create internal APIs (GraphQL) for our front-end systems.
• Determine and develop appropriate solutions based on the stakeholder’s requirements and best tech practices.
• Build tests & monitoring systems to keep the project easily maintainable.
• Continuously improve technical knowledge and interaction with other team members.
• Lead by helping to deconstruct and simplify technical challenges for the team.
• Mentor and coach less experienced team members to help them grow as developers.
• Use your insight and experience to help us continuously improve our processes and the way we work as a team.

Requirements

• You are comfortable working with scalable, long-lived PHP-based web applications, ideally with Symfony, alternatively with any other professional PHP framework such as Laravel.
• While we highly value drive and motivation to make up for fewer years of experience, we expect at least three years of professional experience working with PHP frameworks.
• You have a passion for your work as an engineer, for solving challenges through smart concepts and for producing clean, understandable, well-documented and maintainable code.
• You are creative and pragmatic in all product phases, striking a balance between making things perfect and shipping the product fast.
• You are an effective communicator (company language is English) when talking with other members of the dev team, the product manager, and external stakeholders, and you are well aware of the business context of projects.
• You are passionate about building a product, and a team culture, that you can be proud of.
• You focus on learning and self-development and ensure everyone benefits from your expertise.
• You are comfortable working fully remotely and independently, although well connected to and in constant exchange with the rest of the team through our communication tools and practices (e.g. Scrum meetings).
• You are comfortable with change which is normal in a recently merged start-up.

Benefits

What we offer

• An international team and a company culture that actively supports growth and learning
• Modern offices in Berlin-Kreuzberg or Bristol, with regular social events
• Option to work fully remotely in your country of residence
• 2 all-company off-sites per year (inclusive of travel and accommodation)
• Flexibility in working hours
• 26 vacation days per year, increasing with length of service
• Public Holidays in line with Berlin, Bristol, or the country you choose to work from.
• A generous allowance that you can use for personal development, wellbeing, travel with one of our partners or to improve your work set-up, increasing with length of service

If you are a motivated and results-driven individual who wants to make a difference, we would love to hear from you. We understand that imposter syndrome often stops amazing candidates from applying and that you may not think that you meet 100% of our requirements but we still encourage you to apply. We love to embrace talented people and we can guide you through your development to be a successful Senior Backend Engineer.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status.