PHP Engineer
SME Careers · United States · 5 days ago
RemoteRemoteEngineeringContract
Key Responsibilities
- Create detailed prompts across PHP/backend topics and write high-quality reference answers to guide AI learning.
- Evaluate, rank, and provide feedback on AI responses to improve correctness, security, readability, and contextual fit.
- Test AI outputs for inaccuracies, unsafe practices, and potential biases; validate reliability across real-world use cases.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related technical field (or equivalent professional experience).
- 4+ years of professional experience developing production backend systems in PHP.
- Expert-level proficiency in modern PHP (7.4/8.x+), including OOP, strict typing, namespaces, Composer, and common design patterns.
- Strong backend fundamentals: HTTP, REST, authentication/authorization, sessions, caching, queues, and API design.
- Deep experience with databases (e.g., MySQL/PostgreSQL), including schema design, indexing, query optimization, and transactions.
- Experience with at least one major PHP framework (e.g., Laravel, Symfony) and knowledge of dependency injection, middleware, and ORM tradeoffs.
- Security mindset with hands-on knowledge of secure coding practices (e.g., OWASP Top 10, input validation, SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, secrets handling).
- Comfort with version control, CI/CD workflows, and automated testing (e.g., PHPUnit, integration tests, mocking strategies).
- Prior experience with AI data training, annotation, or evaluating AI-generated technical content is a strong plus.
- Minimum C1 English proficiency (written and spoken), with the ability to write clear technical explanations and follow detailed English-language guidelines.
- Highly detail-oriented and systematic, with a methodical approach to evaluating reasoning quality and identifying subtle bugs in complex PHP/backend systems.