hedgehog lab
Senior Full Stack Engineer (PHP / Laravel) | Contract, Outside IR35
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Senior Full Stack Engineer (PHP / Laravel)
Contract, Manchester based. Outside IR35, starting early October. Full location detail below.
What we're recruiting for
We're hiring a Senior Full Stack PHP engineer to join a long-term team on a genuinely large-scale online marketplace. Very few platforms handle a product catalogue or transaction volume at this level.
The roadmap includes agentic AI workflows built into the platform, retail media integrated directly into the marketplace, and infrastructure work targeting cost and performance at high volume.
A lot of this is being attempted at volumes that have rarely been tested in a marketplace before, so the work leans research-led rather than routine.
It's a fast-paced scale-up environment on a complex platform. You'll do well here if you're comfortable with ambiguity and shifting ground, and confident enough to advocate for the technical decisions you make.
What you'll be doing
You'll join the team part-way through a major, multi-year technology transformation.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
The current client-facing platform runs on PHP and Laravel, and that's where your day to day sits: fixing real issues and building new features within the existing stack.
The longer-term direction is a move towards a service-based architecture, with a move to AWS under active evaluation. As that world takes shape, you'll have room to grow into it.
This is genuinely end-to-end full-stack work: front-end, APIs, data, auth and the platform that ties it together.
This is a long-term role, part of the fabric of the team rather than a short engagement. No juniors. It's a demanding environment, and you'll need to be productive quickly without a long ramp.
Who you'll be working with
You'll be engaged by hedgehog lab, a UK digital product consultancy and certified B Corp with 20 years behind us and offices in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and London.
We place engineers into long-term client teams on complex, high-stakes platforms. This is one of those engagements.
Location and remote working
Contract, engaged outside IR35 via your own limited company. Starting early October.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Flexible working, largely remote. We just ask that you're based within 50 miles of Manchester, as occasional visits to the office will be needed.
Applications from outside this area won't be considered.
What we need
The essentials:
- Senior to principal full-stack experience, genuinely end-to-end across front-end, APIs and data
- Strong hands-on PHP and Laravel, working in a large, established codebase
- You can pick up and build within an existing platform quickly, rather than only working greenfield
- You can advocate for technical decisions and communicate them clearly
- Comfortable delivering at pace in a complex, high-volume environment
- Comfortable working in English, written and spoken
Nice to have:
- Hands-on AWS, ideally with infrastructure as code (Terraform or CDK)
- Retail or e-commerce background
- GenAI or agentic workflows in your engineering practice
Ready to apply?
Submit your application below.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London