Software Engineering Tech Lead

Who Are We? 

Smartbox Group is Europe’s leading provider of experience gifts, selling over 3.5 million gift sets annually across travel, food, wellness, and adventure. Available online and in 17,500+ retail locations across Europe, the company focuses on offering high-quality, curated digital and in-store experiences.

About the Role 

We are looking for a Software Engineering Tech
Lead (PHP Backend) to join our Engineering team at Smartbox. You will lead the domain
domain that powers our real-time availability engine and support integrations with hotels, parks, and new verticals such as spas and restaurants, making it a key part of the Smartbox experience. 

This is a hands-on technical leadership role, responsible for the design, scalability, and long-term health of systems within your domain. You will collaborate closely with software engineers, product managers, QA engineers, and other technical leads - both on-site and in remote/offshore teams. 

Please note that this is a technical leadership role without direct people management responsibilities. 

What You’ll Do 

• Lead the technical direction and system architecture for your domain. 
• Design and maintain scalable, testable backend services using PHP and Symfony. 
• Collaborate with managers to ensure solutions align with business needs. 
• Guide engineers by reviewing code, sharing best practices, and supporting solution design. 
• Run regular technical syncs with offshore and cross-functional teams. 
• Represent your domain in cross-team discussions and technical initiatives. 
• Contribute to process improvements across our SDLC and Agile delivery practices. 
• Promote code quality, test coverage, and CI/CD best practices within the team. 

What We’re Looking For 

• 6+ years of experience in software development, including technical ownership and mentorship responsibilities. 
• Deep expertise in PHP (7 or 8) and a modern PHP framework (preferably Symfony). 
• Proven experience designing and supporting robust REST/SOAP APIs. 
• Strong skills in relational data modelling and performance optimisation. 
• Familiarity with asynchronous processing and messaging systems. 
• Comfortable working with containers and cloud-native environments. 
• Hands-on experience with automated testing and maintaining high test coverage. 
• Practical understanding of CI/CD pipelines in team environments. 
• Strong knowledge of clean architecture, design patterns, and SOLID principles. 
• Excellent communication skills; comfortable working across teams and time zones. 
• Ability to balance technical priorities with business goals. 

Even Better If You Have 

• Experience with availability engines, inventory synchronisation, or real-time data flows. 
• Familiarity with OTA specifications (e.g., OTA XML/JSON) or travel booking flows. 
• Integration experience with channel managers, booking platforms, or hospitality systems. 
• Understanding of Domain-Driven Design (DDD) and how to apply it in scalable systems. 
• Experience in production observability (monitoring, logging, alerting). 
• Symfony or PHP certifications are a plus.