Senior Software Engineer (Laravel & AI Systems Architecture)
Location:
Brisbane (Flexible — initial in‑office period negotiable)
Salary
: $150,000–$160,000 + Super
Type
: Senior Individual Contributor / AI Culture Setter
In Summary:
* Someone that has deep Laravel architecture knowledge and personal LLM prompt libraires, AI integrated into CI/CD, experience managing AI generated tech debt
* Deep Laravel expertise / The ability to correct AI output and maintain quality
* Heavy‑hitting Laravel expert who is AI‑native — a senior IC who leads through exceptional output and sets the standard for how the entire team uses AI to ship better code
About:
This organisation supports a large and diverse community through modern, self‑directed care and support services. Their mission is to improve people's daily lives by combining human‑centred service with thoughtful, well‑designed technology.
They are investing heavily in automation and AI to streamline operational processes, reduce administrative load, and enable their teams to focus on meaningful, person‑to‑person support. The engineering culture is built around using AI to accelerate delivery while maintaining strong standards for quality, reliability, and long‑term maintainability.
The Opportunity
We're looking for a
Senior Laravel Engineer
who can deliver high‑performance backend systems
and
define how AI is used across our engineering organisation.
This role sits at the intersection of:
* Laravel architecture
* AI‑assisted development workflows
* Context engineering
* Productivity governance
You'll be the technical culture setter who ensures our AI strategy results in
better engineering
, not faster technical debt.
What You'll Do
Laravel Architecture & Backend Engineering
* Lead the design and development of scalable, secure, and maintainable backend systems using Laravel 11/12 and PHP 8.x.
* Establish and enforce architectural patterns, coding standards, and system design principles.
AI Workflow & Development Culture
* Define how AI tools (Cursor, Claude Code, PhpStorm/Junie) are used across the team.
* Standardise shared prompts, coding context, and development rules to ensure consistent AI‑generated output.
* Build and maintain AI‑ready infrastructure, including vector search, Laravel Pulse, and internal AI agents.
Quality, Testing & Governance
* Strong TDD and automated testing as the guardrails for AI‑accelerated development.
* Implement linting, CI/CD checks, and productivity governance to ensure code quality across diverse AI tools.
Cross‑Team Collaboration
* Work with product squads to identify opportunities where AI can improve decision‑making, care delivery, or operational efficiency.
* Mentor engineers on AI‑assisted workflows and modern Laravel patterns.
What You Bring
* Deep expertise in Laravel, Eloquent, queues, service patterns, and modern PHP architecture.
* Strong understanding of AI‑assisted development and the challenges of AI‑generated technical debt.
* Experience with context engineering structuring data, documentation, and codebases so AI tools perform reliably.
* A systems‑thinking mindset with a passion for automation, developer experience, and scalable architecture.
* A pragmatic approach to AI: you know when to use it, when not to, and how to keep it safe.
Tech Stack
* Backend:
PHP 8.3+, Laravel 11/12, PostgreSQL (pgvector)
* Frontend:
/ React / TypeScript
* AI & Tooling:
Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Actions, Docker, Laravel Forge/Vapor
* Testing:
Pest or PHPUnit (TDD required)
Work Environment & Logistics
* Post‑Probation:
Hybrid — 3 days in office, 2 days remote.
* Perks:
Salary packaging, fitness benefits, and a mission‑driven culture focused on impact and ownership.