Senior Backend Engineer (PHP/Rust migration)

Hi there :)

Thanks for checking in to find out about our open position. We´ll provide as much information as possible, but please feel free to reach us if you have further questions. We´ll be happy to see your application, even if there are skills you don't quite master!

About Us

At South Geeks, we connect top LATAM engineering talent with innovative companies building impactful products worldwide. We focus on long-term partnerships, strong technical environments, and creating spaces where professionals can grow, contribute, and thrive.

About the client

Our client is a financial technology company that provides secure payment and prepaid card solutions for public sector organizations. Their platform helps government agencies replace cash and paper checks with digital payment systems, enabling efficient and transparent distribution of funds.

About the role

We’re looking for a Senior Backend Engineer (PHP) to help maintain and evolve a mission-critical payments platform operating at the intersection of government systems and prepaid card processing.

This role focuses heavily on backend development within a mature PHP-based platform that processes complex financial workflows. You will work with a long-lived codebase, contribute to weekly production releases, troubleshoot issues across distributed systems, and gradually help migrate portions of the system toward a Rust-based architecture.

The environment requires engineers who enjoy understanding complex domains, improving legacy systems, and building reliable infrastructure for systems that must operate with high observability and recoverability.

What you need to succeed in this role

• Senior-level experience developing backend systems in PHP, ideally within a LAMP-based architecture.

• Strong experience working with MySQL and relational database design.

• Experience maintaining and evolving large, long-lived codebases.

• Solid understanding of Unix/Linux environments and server-based application development.

• Experience debugging production systems and investigating complex data or processing issues.

• Familiarity with automated testing practices and maintaining large test suites.

• Experience working with message queues, logging systems, or asynchronous processing.

• Ability to work independently while collaborating through code reviews and technical discussions.

• Strong analytical skills and ability to learn complex technical and business domains.

If you get the job, you will have to

• Develop and maintain backend functionality in a PHP-based payment processing platform.

• Contribute to the gradual migration of selected systems from PHP to Rust.

• Troubleshoot production issues and perform data investigations when needed.

• Participate in weekly production releases and help maintain stable deployment cycles.

• Review code and collaborate with engineers to maintain code quality.

• Support and evolve system observability through logging, monitoring, and debugging tools.

• Work closely with the team to understand and maintain complex payment workflows tied to government systems.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Rust or interest in learning it as part of a gradual system migration.

• Experience working with financial systems, payments, or fintech platforms.

• Some JavaScript experience for occasional frontend tasks.

• Experience using AI-assisted coding tools.

Our team

We strive to create an inspiring and growth-oriented environment where everyone feels valued, heard, and empowered. We promote both personal and professional development, with individualized support for your needs and goals. We aim to build a space where everyone can thrive.

What we offer

• Long-term projects

• 100% remote work

• Payment in USD

• Paid Time Off (PTO)

• Work-from-home & training reimbursement

• English lessons

• Technical training

• Career coaching