---
title: 'Sr. PHP Symfony Engineer (Remote, Full-Time) [AR024] at Smart Working Solutions'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/sr-php-symfony-engineer-remote-full-time-ar024-smart-working-solutions-london-tcgksxqgk3ng'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-15'
---

# Sr. PHP Symfony Engineer (Remote, Full-Time) [AR024] at Smart Working Solutions

- **Company:** Smart Working Solutions
- **Location:** London, United Kingdom
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-10-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-15
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/smart-working-solutions/5e9b8865-cd10-4924-bdd0-0e432bfaf15f

## Job description

## About Smart Working

At Smart Working, we believe your job should not only look right on paper but also feel right every day. This isn’t just another remote opportunity — it’s about finding where you truly belong, no matter where you are. From day one, you’re welcomed into a genuine community that values your growth and well-being. Our mission is simple: to break down geographic barriers and connect skilled professionals with outstanding global teams and products for full-time, long-term roles. We help you discover meaningful work with teams that invest in your success, where you’re empowered to grow personally and professionally. Join one of the highest-rated workplaces on Glassdoor and experience what it means to thrive in a truly remote-first world.

## About the Role

As a Senior PHP/Symfony Engineer, you will take hands-on ownership of backend development within a mature Symfony platform that manages marketing and revenue data for enterprise customers. The core application currently runs on Symfony 6.1, with an upgrade to Symfony 7 planned, alongside an Angular front end and TypeScript and Python AI agent microservices. This is a strongly backend-weighted, senior hands-on engineering role requiring an architect mindset, strong independence and the ability to understand how technical decisions affect the wider system. You will work within a remote, cross-functional product squad alongside engineering, product, QA and DevOps colleagues.

## Responsibilities

- Take ownership of backend development within the core Symfony application, becoming fully independent in delivering work within 2–3 months of joining.
- Review and critically assess code written by the team and AI tools, challenging proposed approaches and making sure key considerations have been properly addressed.
- Support the migration from Symfony 6.1 to Symfony 7 by resolving versioning, compatibility and legacy issues currently preventing the upgrade.
- Improve the application’s performance, scalability and maintainability, making it easier and safer to introduce new functionality.
- Work across the Angular front end, TypeScript and Python-based AI agent services, collaborating with DevOps where backend changes impact other areas of the system.
- Be comfortable reading and understanding the Angular/TypeScript codebase, even though the role is primarily backend focused. Strong front-end development experience is not required.
- Understand the wider impact of technical decisions across Symfony, Angular and AI services, while spotting gaps or issues in both human-written and AI-generated code.
- Question existing approaches, identify root causes and look for better ways of building things rather than simply completing assigned tickets.
- Deliver thoughtful, maintainable solutions within a legacy codebase while maintaining a consistent pace of delivery.
- Work with a high level of autonomy and ownership while collaborating effectively with a remote, cross-functional team.
- Follow SOC 2, PII and security requirements consistently and without exception.

## Requirements

- 8+ years of commercial software engineering experience, including at least 5 years working with PHP.
- 7+ years of Expert-level PHP development experience.
- 3+ years of recent commercial experience with Symfony 6.x/7 at Advanced level. Strong senior-level Laravel experience may be considered where the experience is clearly transferable and the candidate has a good understanding of the differences between Laravel and Symfony.
- 4+ years of Advanced experience in backend architecture, system design and scalability.
- 2+ years of Advanced experience using AI development tools critically, including reviewing, validating and challenging AI-generated code rather than accepting it without question.
- 5+ years of Advanced MySQL experience, including database schema design and query optimisation. Equivalent depth of experience with PostgreSQL or another relational database may also be considered.
- At least 1 year of experience working with or understanding Angular/TypeScript. Experience with React or Vue using TypeScript may also be considered, but some front-end exposure is essential.
- 3+ years of Advanced experience with automated testing using PHPUnit. Experience with Pest or another equivalent PHP testing framework may also be considered.
- At least 1 year of Intermediate experience working on framework upgrades and modernising legacy codebases. Experience with major-version upgrades or significant refactoring in other large PHP applications may be considered.
- 2+ years of Intermediate AWS experience. Equivalent experience with Azure or GCP may also be considered.
- Fluent written and spoken English.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to work effectively in a remote environment.
- Ability to work UK hours.
- Ability to successfully complete strict background checks and adhere to PII and data protection requirements.
- Strong self-sufficiency, with the ability to operate independently and without handholding after 2–3 months, while continuing to collaborate effectively with the wider team.
- A hands-on engineering approach combined with an architectural mindset, with the ability to understand how and why the wider system works rather than focusing only on writing code.

## Nice to Have

- 2+ years of Intermediate CI/CD experience with GitHub Actions; GitLab CI, Jenkins or Azure DevOps are suitable alternatives.
- Basic experience with Amazon Redshift or data warehousing; Snowflake or BigQuery may be considered.
- Azure exposure alongside AWS.
- Previous project leadership experience.
- Previous mentoring and technical leadership experience with other engineers.

## About Smart Working Solutions

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Smart Working provides a "Tech Talent as a Service" model, delivering rigorously vetted remote software engineers and AI specialists who are fully embedded into clients’ teams.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Privately Held)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: Oli Rowse (Co-Founder), Max Rowse (Co-Founder), Julian Rowse (Director & Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: IT Services and IT Consulting
- **Target customers**: B2B – mid‑market to enterprise clients in the UK and USA seeking to scale engineering teams without traditional hiring overhead
- **Mission / purpose**: "Building high‑performance global engineering teams without the friction, risk, or overhead of legacy hiring models."

## Products & Services
- **Tech Talent as a Service (TTaaS)**: A fully managed service that includes vetting, onboarding, payroll, HR administration, performance management, compliance, and continuous AI training. Engineers work the client’s hours, join their standups, and integrate into existing Slack/communication channels. Pricing starts at ~£20–£25/hour all‑inclusive.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: 123 employees (78% year‑over‑year growth); serves 60+ clients in the UK and USA
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Not publicly listed
- **Growth Signals**:
  - 78% headcount growth YoY
  - Average engineer tenure of 26 months (low churn for the industry)
  - Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 75
  - ISO 27001 certified
  - 4‑stage vetting process that admits only ~1% of ~100,000 monthly applicants
  - Continuous AI Academy training for all engineers

## Competitive Advantages
- **Rigorous vetting**: 4‑stage process (AI‑assisted screening, advanced technical assessments, communication tests, live technical interview) ensures top‑1% talent.
- **Full embedding**: Engineers work the client’s exact hours, attend meetings, and use the client’s tools – eliminating the disconnect typical of offshore outsourcing.
- **Low churn guarantee**: Average 26‑month tenure; if an engineer leaves, they are replaced at no extra cost.
- **All‑inclusive pricing**: Single monthly invoice covers vetting, onboarding, payroll, HR, compliance, performance management, and AI training.
- **Security & compliance**: ISO 27001 certified with comprehensive background screening.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling the “Tech Talent as a Service” model to more clients while maintaining high quality and low churn.
- Continuous investment in AI training (AI Academy) to keep engineers ahead of emerging technologies.
- Expanding the client base beyond the UK and USA into other English‑speaking markets.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & ratings**: Employer rating of 4.7/5 on LinkedIn (196 reviews) with strong scores for work‑life balance (4.7), compensation (4.5), culture (4.6), and career growth (4.5).
- **Remote‑first**: All roles are fully remote, with engineers distributed across 18 countries. The model supports full‑time, contractual, and part‑time engagements.
- **Stability & impact**: Engineers work directly with 60+ clients on meaningful products and receive continuous training in AI and modern tech stacks.
- **Support**: Dedicated Account Managers and Customer Success teams handle performance, compliance, and career development.
- **Perks**: All‑inclusive payroll handling, no lock‑in contracts (1‑month calibration + 6‑month minimum), and a replacement guarantee.

## Sources
1. [smartworking.io](https://smartworking.io/)
2. [linkedin.com](https://uk.linkedin.com/company/smartworkingsolutions)
3. [lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/smart-working-solutions)
4. [simplify.jobs](https://simplify.jobs/c/Smart-Working-Solutions)

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