Senior / Lead PHP Engineer with AI skills

N-iX is a global software development service company that helps businesses across the globe create next-generation software products. Founded in 2002, we unite 2,400+ tech-savvy professionals across 40+ countries, working on impactful projects for industry leaders and Fortune 500 companies. Our expertise spans cloud, data, AI/ML, embedded software, IoT, and more, driving digital transformation across finance, manufacturing, telecom, healthcare, and other industries. Join N-iX and become part of a team where your ideas make a real impact.

Our client is a leading European online car marketplace, connecting car buyers and sellers across the continent. The platform serves over 30 million monthly users and operates across 18 countries, making it one of the largest and most trusted digital marketplaces for vehicles in Europe.

We're looking for a mature, Senior / Lead PHP Engineer with deep Laravel expertise and hands-on experience building or integrating agentic AI systems. Over a 6-month engagement, you will help the team build the next major product release, taking ownership of complex backend features end-to-end, mentoring other engineers, and helping shape how AI-driven automation and agents fit into the product and internal workflows.

You will join the cross-functional product team, working full time in the EDT (Toronto) time zone alongside engineers who value clear communication, independent judgment on ambiguous problems, and production-ready engineering.

Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and maintain robust backend services and APIs using PHP and Laravel to deliver the next major product release.
• Own features from technical design through deployment and monitoring.
• Integrate and orchestrate agentic AI workflows (e.g., LLM-based agents, tool-calling pipelines, autonomous task runners) into existing products and internal tooling.
• Improve system performance, reliability, and security across the stack.
• Mentor other engineers and partner with colleagues across functions to move technical topics forward.
• Stay current with the PHP/Laravel ecosystem and emerging agentic AI tools and patterns.

Requirements:

• 6+ years of professional PHP development experience, including 4+ years building applications with Laravel (or comparable modern PHP framework experience with strong Laravel proficiency).
• Hands-on GenAI experience — you've built with LLM APIs, tool/function calling, retrieval, agents, or agent frameworks and put them into real workflows.
• Modern AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex) are part of how you work day to day.
• Solid database skills (MySQL/PostgreSQL), including query optimization and schema design.
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker) and cloud deployment (AWS, GCP, or similar).
• Solid engineering fundamentals: testing, debugging, code quality, and getting things production-ready.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the judgment to work independently on ambiguous problems.
• English level: Upper-Intermediate or higher.