Backend Engineer PHP / NodeJS

EdSpan is an innovative EdTech company dedicated to creating cutting-edge learning experiences that empower the next generation of students. Our collaboration with a US-based private school network helps us better understand user needs while expanding our B2C and B2B products to a broader audience. Our current focus includes an AI-guided tutoring experiences, a peer-to-peer tutoring platform, and a custom learning management system. We operate within a framework of clearly defined processes supported by automation for routine tasks, and open, productive collaboration across the team. Our workflows are based on Agile principles, with daily stand-ups, bi-weekly sprints, and other key Scrum practices. At the same time, we keep meetings to a minimum to ensure everyone can stay focused on delivering high-quality results and continuing to grow professionally.

Requirements

4 or more years of experience in backend development Experience with PHP: version 8.0 and above, Laravel or Symfony frameworks Experience with NodeJS: any of TypeScript-based frameworks Good understanding of OOP principles and best practices (DRY, KISS, SOLID) Familiarity with Domain-Driven Design (DDD) Strong knowledge of relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.) and good understanding of non-relational databases (Redis, OpenSearch, or other) Practical experience with Docker, docker-compose, and CI/CD pipelines Experience writing unit and integration tests Intermediate level of English (B1) or above

Would be a plus

Hands-on experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) - third-party integrations or hosted models, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines, LLM Engineering Platforms Practical knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS or other providers) beyond basic object storage and compute instances Familiarity with real-time communication technologies such as WebSockets or WebRTC

Responsibilities

Implement new features following architecture guidelines, review the code of your peers Write code following best practices, common design patterns, and Domain-Driven Design ideas Integration with 3rd party services (including LLMs, Payment Service Providers, Text-to-Speech, realtime communication and more) Debug and fix issues on staging and production environments Preparing Swagger schema definitions and implementing automated tests Scope decomposition and task estimation Participate in daily meetings and other scrum rituals