Senior PHP Full Stack Laravel Development Lead (Remote)

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior PHP Full Stack Laravel Development Lead to join Smile and play a pivotal role across our Retail Dental Cover and Corporate Dental Cover platforms.

This role is ideal for a senior, hands-on technical leader who thrives in small, high-ownership teams, enjoys building scalable systems, and takes pride in delivering clean, reliable, and well-architected solutions.

You will be responsible for leading technical delivery, architecting and developing new features, maintaining critical infrastructure, and ensuring the scalability, performance, and security of our platforms as the business continues to grow.

AMAZING REASONS TO WORK WITH SMILE

• 100% Remote: Enjoy the flexibility and convenience of working from anywhere.
• Full-Time Position: Secure a stable and consistent work schedule.
• Similar Time Zone: Work seamlessly with a team in a compatible time zone.
• Established Company: Join a nearly 20-year-old successful & growing organisation.
• National Presence: Be part of a national Australian company.
• Meaningful Work: Contribute to a noble mission to revolutionise quality healthcare accessibility and affordability.
• Top-Tier Leadership & Team: Collaborate with 'A' leadership and 'A' players, including successful Australian/Canadian Founder/CEO and an accomplished Australian COO with extensive experience building and scaling companies.
• Excellent Culture: Thrive in a positive, supportive work environment with a long-serving team.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, build, and maintain production-grade PHP/Laravel applications and scalable backend APIs for web and mobile platforms.
• Architect and integrate secure RESTful APIs and third-party services (payments, CRMs, analytics, messaging, mapping, deep linking).
• Deliver full-stack features using JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Blade, jQuery, and modern tooling (Composer, npm, Gulp).
• Apply advanced Git/GitHub practices, including branching, pull requests, rebasing, and code reviews in multi-developer environments.
• Design and optimise SQL schemas and databases (PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server) following SOLID principles.
• Implement automated testing and code quality standards using PHPUnit and linting tools.
• Deploy and support development, staging, and production environments, including AWS infrastructure, servers, DNS, and hosting.
• Use AI-assisted development tools responsibly to improve productivity while maintaining engineering discipline.
• Support analytics, tracking, and growth systems, including GA4, Google Tag Manager, CRM integrations, and conversion tracking.
• Research, evaluate, and integrate third-party tools and SDKs, ensuring technical fit and business value.
• Produce clear technical documentation and communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrate strong ownership, accountability, and reliability, operating effectively in a high-performance remote setup.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)

• Code Quality: Code review outcomes, test coverage, and static analysis results.
• Delivery Time: Speed from feature initiation to production deployment.
• Improve Sales & Customer Satisfaction: Application of best-practice e-commerce and customer experience methodologies, with customer feedback driving acquisition and retention.
• API Performance: Reliability, response times, and error rates of REST APIs.
• System Uptime: Hosting and infrastructure availability against uptime targets.
• Innovation Impact: Measurable gains in efficiency and productivity through adoption of new tools and technologies.
• Compliance Adherence: Consistent adherence to data security, privacy, and regulatory standards.
• Collaboration & Communication: Effectiveness as a team player, including code reviews, knowledge sharing, and cross-functional engagement.
• Ownership & Accountability: Demonstrates responsibility for outcomes, follows through on commitments, and proactively resolves issues.

REQUIREMENTS

This full-time role will suit someone who meets all of the following:

• 8–10+ years of PHP experience, with deep expertise in Laravel and backend/API development for web and mobile.
• Strong full-stack capability across JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Blade, jQuery, and modern build tools.
• Proven ability to design, scale, and integrate RESTful APIs and third-party services (payments, CRM, analytics, messaging, mapping).
• Advanced Git/GitHub proficiency in collaborative, multi-developer environments.
• Strong foundations in SQL schema design, SOLID principles, and production databases (PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server).
• Experience with automated testing and code quality (PHPUnit, linting).
• Hands-on experience deploying and supporting AWS-based production infrastructure.
• Effective use of AI-assisted development tools within disciplined engineering practices.
• Experience supporting marketing teams with analytics, tracking, and growth tooling (GA4, GTM, CRMs).
• Ability to evaluate and integrate third-party tools and SDKs.
• Demonstrated ability to liaise with stakeholders, plan and deliver projects, and maintain technical documentation.
• Excellent spoken and written English in order to be able to effectively liaise with stakeholders in the region.
• Proven ownership, accountability, and reliability, with a professional remote work setup and remote work experience..