Location: Hybrid in Malta or Remote from Europe

Reporting to: Software Architect

Our client is moving into a new phase of technical independence. They are migrating our core systems to a fully in-house model, and need a Back-end Team Lead to spearhead the transition. This isn't a "business as usual" management role. You are the primary builder responsible for recruiting, mentoring, and leading a high-caliber internal team to take full ownership of the platform.

Your Missions

• Build and lead the internal Back-end team from the ground up to support the full migration and long-term ownership of the platform.
• Take command of the PHP backend, ensuring the system remains stable, secure, and optimized throughout the migration process.
• Partner with the Software Architect to translate the long-term technical vision into a scalable, internally managed reality.
• Mentor and grow your engineers, setting the bar for high-velocity delivery, clean code, and rigorous testing standards.
• Drive the transition from a legacy environment into a modern, high-performance internal architecture.
• Own the delivery of the backend roadmap, ensuring our global gaming systems maintain high availability and fault tolerance.

What You Bring

• Extensive experience as a Senior or Lead Engineer with a proven ability to scale high-performance engineering teams.
• Mastery of Laravel. You know the framework inside and out and have a deep understanding of refactoring complex systems for scale.
• Experience in high-stakes migration environments - you know how to move systems between environments while mitigating risk.
• Deep knowledge of relational databases (PostgreSQL/MySQL), Redis, and building scalable REST/GraphQL APIs.
• Strong grasp of modern infrastructure, including Docker, Kubernetes, and automated CI/CD pipelines.
• A pragmatic, hands-on leadership style where you lead by example in the codebase rather than just from the sidelines.
• Excellent communication skills in English, with the ability to navigate complex architectural transitions with both the team and leadership.

Nice to Have

• Background in iGaming, Sportsbook, or Fintech platforms.
• Experience with event-driven architectures (Kafka, RabbitMQ).
• Familiarity with AWS/GCP cloud environments.
• Knowledge of security best practices for high-volume financial transactions.

What's In It For You

• Be the technology owner and build something great from scratch! Make a tangible impact in a rapidly growing, global company.
• A culture that rewards ambition, innovation, and collaboration.
• If hired remotely, 28 days of time off and public holidays as per country of residency.
• Comprehensive benefits package for Malta-based employees, including:
• Private health insurance, wellness allowance, and communication allowance.
• Healthy lunch on Wednesdays, Social Fridays, and Summer & Christmas events.
• Employee discounts in restaurants and businesses.
• Extended second-parent leave policy.
• Private parking space.