Tech lead (PHP mandatory)

Key Responsibilities

● Technology Strategy & Architecture: Define and execute the technical roadmap for our platforms, ensuring scalability, security, and performance.

● Team Leadership & Growth: Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing engineering team, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.

● Hands-On Engineering & Solutions Design: Architect, develop, and optimize booking engines, CRM systems, eCommerce platforms, and supplier repositories.

● Modernization & Admin Redesign: Lead the transformation of legacy systems, ensuring seamless integration with new architectures.

● Agile & DevOps Execution: Implement best practices for CI/CD, automation, monitoring, and observability to improve operational efficiency.

● Cross-Team Collaboration: Work closely with business stakeholders, product managers, designers, and operations teams to align technical execution with company objectives.

● Scalability & Performance Optimization: Ensure high availability, fast API performance, and system stability to support our growing user base.

● B2B & B2C Platform Development: Own and scale eCommerce, group booking, and itinerary management systems, delivering best-in-class solutions for the travel industry.

● Security & Compliance: Oversee PCI compliance, secure API development, and cloud infrastructure best practices.

What You Bring

Core Qualifications

● 10+ years of experience in software engineering and architecture, with 5+ years leading engineering teams.

● Must have a strong background in travel technology, specifically in Online Booking Engines (OBEs), group travel, and travel eCommerce.

● Proven leadership in managing and scaling engineering teams, hiring developers, and mentoring junior engineers.

● Hands-on experience with Laravel (PHP), React (Next.js), AWS (Lambda, API Gateway, EventBridge, SNS, SQS, ECS, S3, RDS, AppRunner, Elasticache).

● Expertise in travel technology, particularly in Online Booking Engines (OBEs), group travel, and travel eCommerce.

● Deep understanding of cloud architecture, microservices, and API-first development.

● Experience with modern front-end and back-end architectures, including serverless computing, caching strategies, and asynchronous job processing.

● CI/CD & DevOps proficiency, including observability tools (Datadog, CloudWatch) and automation.

Bonus Points For

● Prior SaaS or startup experience in travel tech, specifically working on booking engines, itinerary builders, or tour operator platforms.

● Machine Learning (ML), AI, LLMs, RAGs, or blockchain implementations.

● Experience with Plasmic CMS, Laravel Livewire, GraphQL, and advanced caching techniques.

● SEO, Core Web Vitals, and accessibility expertise for front-end performance optimization.