Middle+ BackEnd PHP Developer

Job Title: Middle+ BackEnd PHP Developer.

Project Name: Recovery for All (RFA).

Location of Position: Full Remote.

Reporting to: RFA Deputy Director, Head of Digital Governance Team.

Remuneration: Fees are subject to negotiation and shall not exceed established market rates.

Indicative LOE/Time Frame: Full-time, Monday-Friday.

The role is expected to continue on a long-term basis, subject to project needs and performance.

For contracting (after the job offer is made), the selected candidate is expected to be registered as a Private Entrepreneur of the 3d group (consultancy services).

Citizenship: Ukraine.

Language Requirements:

Excellent knowledge of Ukrainian, ability to speak and write clearly.

Upper-intermediate or higher level of written and spoken English.

Application Deadline: June 05, 2026.

Application Instructions:

Please note: Alinea International does not provide exemptions from mandatory military service requirements for consultants engaged under Private Entrepreneur (PE) contracts.

1. A cover letter is mandatory to be considered. Cover letters should effectively align your skills and experiences with the specific job responsibilities outlined in the position’s description, demonstrating your aptitude and enthusiasm for the role, your daily fee and current availability.

2. Click the “Apply now” link to upload your cover letter and CV in English.

3. Only successful candidates will be contacted. No phone calls please.

Alinea is an international development consultancy providing technical and management expertise that helps people improve their lives. Alinea works with governments, investors, companies, and communities to create lasting change. Over 39 years, Alinea has successfully delivered more than 1,000 projects worldwide. For more information, please visit Alinea International website.

Alinea International does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment and hiring process. All offers of employment or job opportunities with Alinea International that include any form of a request for payment of fees or collect information on bank accounts are fraudulent. Any requests for such payment or information should be refused and reported to your local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action and to Alinea International.

At Alinea International we value diversity, equity, inclusivity, accessibility and belonging in everything we do. We are an equal opportunity employer opposed to all forms of discrimination. We actively seek and encourage applications from people of diverse backgrounds recognizing that an inclusive workforce enriches our organization and achieves smarter, more innovative results.

Alinea is committed to the protection of children and vulnerable adults. Due to the nature of our work, all candidates will be subject to due diligence checks and extensive background checks where appropriate.

Project Description:

Recovery for All (RFA) is a seven-year (2025–2031) technical assistance project, funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by Alinea International.

RFA will support 50 war-affected communities take on the massive task of managing the damage that has been inflicted by Russia’s war against Ukraine. The aim of our work with communities is to help them build back better, not only in terms of reconstruction, but also socially and economically, so that people that have stayed in the communities not only survive this war, but can thrive. Each community has its own needs and priorities, so we will work with them to plan a recovery that meets those needs, build the capacity to attract financing and implement recovery initiatives, that serve the long-term development of communities to develop and to foster a better future for residents.

At the national level, RFA works with the Ukrainian government on recovery planning and coordination, ensuring different ministries and agencies collaborate effectively and together, that these efforts support Ukraine’s path toward EU integration. RFA supports tracking and reporting on the Ukraine Plan through digital systems we have developed, allowing Ukraine to report efficiently, accurately and transparently to the EU, on its progress required for release of financial tranches under the EU Facility.

About the Work:

Within the RFA initiative, we develop ProjectUA — a national IT platform for the Government of Ukraine that enables planning, monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation. ProjectUA consolidates government priorities, delivers real-time progress monitoring, and supports transparent, data-driven decision-making.

Today the platform is used by over 900 civil servants across 50+ ministries and agencies and 25 regional administrations. ProjectUA tracks over 10,000 tasks across 20+ strategies and plans, turning dispersed operational data into actionable insights that improve coordination, accountability and the effectiveness of the government.

The Role: We are strengthening our backend team with a Middle+ PHP Developer who has a serious engineering attitude toward:

● Code quality and maintainability

● Security best practices

● Performance and scalability

● Clean, auditable backend architecture

Primary tasks are:

● Design, develop, and maintain high-quality backend solutions in PHP

● Review and improve the existing codebase with focus on security vulnerabilities and performance bottlenecks

● Write and maintain unit and integration tests

● Prepare and maintain clear technical documentation

Formal Eligibility Requirements (Mandatory)

Please note: Due to project, contracting, and donor requirements, candidates must meet all of the criteria below in order to be considered.

● Ukrainian citizenship (mandatory)

● Registered Ukrainian Private Entrepreneur of the 3d group (consultancy services) or readiness to register as Private Entrepreneur prior to contract signing

● Legal ability to provide consultancy services under Ukrainian law

● Availability for full-time engagement (Monday–Friday)

Required Qualifications: Experience:

● 4+ years of professional experience with PHP

● Strong knowledge of PHP 7.4 and PHP 8.x

● Proven production experience with Yii2

● Solid knowledge of MySQL, including schema design and query optimization (EXPLAIN, indexes)

● Strong background in API design (REST/JSON) and backend architecture

● Hands-on experience with performance measurement and optimization: profiling code execution, analyzing bottlenecks (slow requests/queries), improving runtime and memory usage

● Practical experience with debugging and troubleshooting: working with logs, reproducing issues, root-cause analysis, and delivering reliable fixes

● Hands-on experience writing unit and integration tests using Codeception

● Good understanding of OOP, SOLID, and clean code practices

What We Value Most:

● Engineering mindset focused on long-term product health, not short-term hacks

● Personal responsibility for correctness, security, and reliability

● Proactive and independent approach: ability to propose improvements and drive them to completion

As a plus:

● Experience with Vue.js (and understanding how frontend integrates with APIs)

● Experience with Redis / caching

● Experience with Symfony and/or Laravel

● Experience with Docker/CI on a basic level

● Experience refactoring monoliths and improving performance/memory usage