Job Specifications
As a Lead Backend Engineer at Enigmatic Smile, you’ll be responsible for guiding the technical direction of our backend services, mentoring engineers, and delivering high-quality, scalable, secure software that supports millions of global customers. You’ll work closely with engineering managers, product teams, and cross-functional stakeholders to architect robust systems, lead complex initiatives, and elevate engineering standards across the organisation.
Security is a core requirement for Enigmatic Smile, so adherence to PCI and ISO policies is a must for all engineering roles.
What do we do?
Enigmatic Smile is a fintech scale-up. We’re a distributed team with headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland. Our customers are worldwide, and each region has its own requirements that we support through our platform. We’re a visionary company enabling customers, retailers, rewards publishers and banks around the world to improve customer experiences.
Who are we looking for?
You’re someone who brings leadership, ownership, and strong technical judgement to everything you build. You’re proactive, collaborative, and confident making architectural decisions that impact multiple teams. You’re comfortable mentoring developers, managing priorities, and championing engineering best practices.
Our way of working
We’re a distributed team; the primary engineering locations are the UK and Portugal. Our wider team spans multiple continents. Day-to-day work is mostly in European time zones (GMT ±2). Our working language is English. This role is primarily remote, with occasional travel/office visits.
Objectives of this role
Lead the delivery of high-quality backend software that is scalable, performant, and secure
Drive architectural design discussions across multiple systems and teams
Line management and mentorship of backend engineers through code reviews, pairing, and coaching
Shape engineering standards, processes, and best practices
Work with other senior engineers and product teams to ensure solutions are robust, maintainable, and compliant with PCI/ISO requirements
Support the QA team and contribute to automated testing strategies
Contribute to planning and participate in project management ceremonies
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver business-critical features end-to-end
Responsibilities
Architect and build backend services and APIs powering our global fintech platform
Own complex technical projects from design through to deployment
Improve system stability, reliability, and observability across services
Troubleshoot and resolve complex production issues
Advocate for performance optimisation, scalability and security improvements
Ensure adherence to internal engineering policies, coding standards, and compliance frameworks
Work closely with DevOps engineers to enhance CI/CD pipelines and production infrastructure
Contribute to long-term technical strategy and system roadmaps
Provide leadership within the backend engineering group, helping shape culture and engineering excellence
Requirements
Extensive experience in backend engineering with PHP as a primary language (Laravel or similar frameworks)
Strong knowledge of modern development tooling, testing methodologies, and CI/CD pipelines
Strong understanding of distributed systems, microservices, caching, queues, and high-throughput API design
Experience with Docker, Git/GitHub workflows, and modern cloud environments
Strong database experience (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB or Document-based DBs)
Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to debug complex issues across systems
Ability to prioritise, communicate clearly, and lead delivery in a fast-moving environment
Understanding of secure development practices, PCI-DSS, and ISO standards (beneficial)
Desirable experience
Experience with Phalcon framework
Experience or strong interest in Go or Rust
Experience with message brokers (Kafka, RabbitMQ, SNS/SQS, etc.)
Experience with high-scale, event-driven architectures
Experience with performance profiling and optimisation
Experience mentoring or managing other developers
Benefits
As a scaling company, our benefits are evolving. As a minimum, you can expect:
Salary: £75,000+ DOE
Flexible working hours and ability to work abroad
Collaborative, security-first engineering culture.
Professional development and certification support.
28 days holiday + local bank holidays
Private Medical insurance + cover for dependants (Vitality)