Backend/PHP Engineer

Job Description

Help Us Build The Future of Travel

At Airalo, we’re making it easier for people to stay connected wherever they travel. As the world’s first eSIM store, we help millions of travelers access affordable mobile data in 200+ countries and regions around the world.

Today, we’re a team of 400+ people across 60+ countries, building a product used by travelers every day. We’ve grown quickly, but we’ve worked hard to keep what matters: trust, ownership, and the freedom for people to do great work without unnecessary layers or bureaucracy.

We’re fully remote by design, genuinely global, and united by a shared mission to make travel simpler for everyone.

Your Next Destination

• Location: Remote, anywhere in Spain or the UK.
• Contract:
  • Spain: Full-time, permanent contrato indefinido via Deel (our employer of record in Spain)
  • UK: Full-time, permanent
• Benefits: Learn more about our benefits here in this link - https://airalo-public.notion.site/Benefits-25396a97ffca81fb9bc1f0be479f1be3?pvs=74
• Languages: English is our main working language day to day, so you’ll need to be comfortable communicating in it both in meetings and async.

Are you a talented engineer who loves building clean, functional code and solving technical challenges in PHP?

Join our team as a Mid-Level Backend Engineer, where you will help evolve our global platform serving more than 20 million users. We value strong engineering fundamentals, a growth mindset, and the ability to deliver reliable features in a fast-paced environment. While we use Laravel, we highly value the core engineering skills of Symfony developers who are eager to adapt their expertise to our ecosystem.

Your main responsibilities are:

• Develop and maintain robust backend services capable of handling high-volume global traffic.
• Implement functional APIs and optimize query performance to ensure a seamless user experience.
• Contribute to our modular architecture, helping us build resilient, service-oriented systems.
• Write clean, maintainable code by applying SOLID principles, OOP best practices, and design patterns.
• Master the art of debugging, identifying and resolving issues across our stack with precision.
• Integrate asynchronous processes using queues and basic event-driven patterns to improve system efficiency.
• Collaborate closely with Senior Engineers and Product teams to turn requirements into high-quality technical solutions.

Does this sound like you:

• 3-5 years of professional backend development experience with a solid command of PHP.
• Proven experience building applications in Laravel or a strong background in Symfony with a desire to transition.
• Strong understanding of OOP, interfaces, and code modularity; you know why “clean code” matters.
• Solid knowledge of SQL, including database indexing, migrations, and basic query optimization.
• AI Proficiency: Ability to effectively use AI tools during technical tasks; we value engineers who know how to prompt, validate, and iterate with AI to build better software faster.
• Familiarity with modern infrastructure, including Docker and basic CI/CD pipeline troubleshooting.
• Experience with testing, specifically writing unit and feature tests to ensure code reliability.
• Fluent English with the ability to communicate technical progress and seek support effectively within a remote team.

Bonus:

• Familiarity with caching mechanisms (Redis/Memcached) and Cloud services (AWS).
• Experience with SaaS or Traveltech solutions.
• Experience with eSIM or GSMA technologies.
• A curiosity for distributed systems and horizontal scaling.

£74,800 - £107,500 a year

At Airalo, we believe in roaming-free recruitment. Just as we provide clear connectivity for travelers, we provide clear salary ranges for our candidates. 🌍

Given this role is remote and available to candidates across some countries in Europe, this range represents the full salary range for this role across our available locations in the EU. To ensure equity based on where you reside we use a tiered location model:

📍 UK: £74,800 to £107,500

📍 Spain: €58,000 to €83,500

Your Home Destination: 🛫 Specific salary ranges used in offers are determined by where you reside. We’re committed to discussing these ranges openly during your first call with our Talent to ensure we’re aligned for takeoff! 🎒✨

Why People Join Us

🇪🇸 Why people join us in Spain

We started Airalo to make staying connected effortless, wherever you are in the world. Today, millions of travelers rely on our eSIMs, and many of the people building the product were customers first.

Our team is united by a shared belief that great work happens when people are trusted to own what they do. As Airalo continues to grow, so do the opportunities to learn, take on new challenges, and make a real impact.

For many of our teammates in Spain, it’s the combination of stability, flexibility, and genuine work-life balance that makes Airalo feel like home.

🇬🇧 Why people join us in the UK

We started Airalo to make staying connected effortless, wherever you are in the world. Today, millions of travelers rely on our eSIMs, and many of the people building the product first discovered us as customers.

Our team spans 60+ countries, but what people often notice quickly is how work actually feels here. There’s trust to own what you do, space to focus without constant layers of process, and a clear sense of what you’re responsible for from day one.

As Airalo continues to grow, people tend to stay for a mix of things: the chance to work on a product used globally, the autonomy to shape how they work, and the opportunity to keep taking on new challenges without getting stuck in one lane.

On-Call

Participating in our on-call rotation is a core expectation of this role. It’s essential for maintaining ²⁴⁄₇ service reliability across our global operations, ensuring our systems remain resilient and our customers experience uninterrupted service, regardless of time zone or geography.

• Paid Rotation: We offer standby fees + overtime pay.
• Delayed Start: No on-call duties for your first 6 months.
• Rest & Recovery: Guaranteed rest periods and flexible hours following night incidents.
• Shared Load: Rotations are split (Weekdays vs. Weekends) to minimize fatigue.

Please refer to the On-Call Policy in the Airalo Handbook for full details: https://airalo-public.notion.site/our-approach-to-engineering-on-call-policy

Before You Hit Apply

By applying, you acknowledge and agree that, in case of successful application, Airalo may request to run background checks as a condition for entering into an agreement with you. Rest assured that these checks will only occur upon your prior consent and at the end of the selection process, and will be strictly limited to what is allowed under the laws that are applicable to you. All data that you share or that we collect in connection with such checks will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy, available here: www.airalo.com/more-info/privacy-policy?srsltid=AfmBOooBT0rXAj1FaNelZ3VfN0wvhwzvAoxdtHnOKSVETpiSjiXVuycy

We sincerely thank all applicants in advance for submitting their interest in this opportunity. Airalo is an equal-opportunity employer and values diversity, equity & inclusion. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations upon request for individuals with disabilities throughout our job interview process.

At Airalo, we use AI-assisted tools as part of our recruitment process. Your application will be reviewed using tools that help our recruiters analyze and organize CV information. These tools support, but do not replace, human judgment; all hiring decisions are made by humans. If you progress to an interview, we may use tools to generate AI-assisted notes -  you can opt out of these. For more information on how we handle your data, please see our Privacy Policy: https://www.airalo.com/more-info/privacy-policy.