Senior/ Lead PHP Engineer (with AI Skills)

Toronto time zone. Project duration - 3 months. We're looking for a mature, Senior/Lead PHP Engineer with deep Laravel expertise and hands-on experience building or integrating agentic AI systems. You'll take ownership of complex backend features end-to-end, mentor other engineers, and help shape how AI-driven automation and agents fit into our product and internal workflows. About the client: Our client is a leading online car marketplace group operating across Europe and North America, bringing together market-leading brands to shape the future of our industry by combining the best of both regions. What You'll Do: Design, build, and maintain robust backend services and APIs using PHP and Laravel Own features from technical design through deployment and monitoring Integrate and orchestrate agentic AI workflows (e.g., LLM-based agents, tool-calling pipelines, autonomous task runners) into existing products or internal tooling Improve system performance, reliability, and security across the stack Stay current with the PHP/Laravel ecosystem and emerging agentic AI tools and patterns What You Need to Succeed: 6+ years of professional PHP development experience 4+ years building applications with Laravel (or comparable modern PHP framework experience with strong Laravel proficiency) Solid database skills (MySQL/PostgreSQL), including query optimization and schema design Familiarity with containerization (Docker) and cloud deployment (AWS, GCP, or similar) Strong communication skills and the judgment to work independently on ambiguous problems Hands-on GenAI experience — you've built with LLM APIs, tool/function calling, retrieval, agents, or agent frameworks and put them into real workflows. Modern AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex) are part of how you work day to day. Strong communication and collaboration skills — you work well in a team, share your opinions clearly, and can move a topic forward with people across functions. Solid engineering fundamentals: testing, debugging, code quality, and getting things production-ready. English - at least Upper Intermediate+ Work in EDT (Toronto) time zone We offer*: Flexible working format - remote, office-based or flexible A competitive salary and good compensation package Personalized career growth Professional development tools (mentorship program, tech talks and trainings, centers of excellence, and more) Active tech communities with regular knowledge sharing Education reimbursement Memorable anniversary presents Corporate events and team buildings Other location-specific benefits *not applicable for freelancers