PHP Developer

Senior Backend Developer PHP/Symfony – AI & E-Commerce (m/f/d) Build the next generation of e-commerce technology at hygi.de. We are looking for an experienced backend developer who combines strong PHP and Symfony expertise with an interest in applying artificial intelligence to modern software engineering and online retail.

About The Company
Hygi.de GmbH & Co. KG is a leading German online retailer for medical products, hygiene supplies, and cleaning products. Since 2003, we have continually expanded our business and now serve more than 3.2 million customers with a range of over 140,000 products. Around 300 colleagues contribute their expertise and commitment to our continued growth. Our digital infrastructure, short decision-making paths, and collaborative culture help us respond to new opportunities and develop practical ideas. At hygi.de, you can take ownership, work across teams, and help shape technology that supports a large and evolving e-commerce business.

About The Role
As a Senior Backend Developer, you will join a backend team of four developers and work closely with our Shop Team Lead. You will help evolve the architecture behind a high-volume online shop, build complex customer-facing and operational capabilities, and contribute to technical standards. Alongside your software engineering work, you will help us make productive, responsible use of AI coding tools and identify useful AI applications for our shop. This role combines technical leadership with a strong focus on business outcomes. You will translate product and operational goals into maintainable solutions, considering customer experience and measures such as conversion, average basket value, margin, and process costs. Qualifications
• At least five years of backend development experience with modern PHP and Symfony.
• Strong knowledge of software architecture, such as domain-driven design, modular monoliths, microservices, or event-driven systems.
• Good experience with MySQL, performance optimization, caching, and message queues.
• Practical experience using AI coding assistants or coding agents, with the ability to assess generated code critically.
• A sound understanding of balancing technical quality with business value.
• Very good German and good English skills.
• Experience with LLM APIs, retrieval-augmented generation, embeddings, vector databases, agent workflows, e-commerce integrations, or developer mentoring is welcome but not essential. Responsibilities
• Develop and improve our PHP 8.x and Symfony backend architecture, making informed decisions about scalability, maintainability, and performance.
• Design and deliver e-commerce capabilities involving checkout, pricing, product assortment, search, and fulfillment.
• Maintain high standards through clean code, automated testing, code reviews, and CI/CD practices.
• Use tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot for development, refactoring, testing, and documentation.
• Help establish effective AI-supported development workflows and share practical guidance with the team.
• Explore and evaluate shop use cases for AI, including intelligent search, product data enrichment, recommendations, and process automation.
• Collaborate with product owners, developers, and business teams, sharing expertise and contributing to technical decisions. Our technology environment includes PHP 8.x, Symfony, MySQL, Redis, RabbitMQ, Git, CI/CD, on-premise hosting, Jira, and Confluence. Benefits

We offer
a secure position in a growing e-commerce business, attractive compensation, and a contribution toward occupational pension provision. You will receive 30 days of annual leave, flexible

working hours
with flexitime, and individual training and development opportunities. Additional benefits include employee discounts across our product range, modern workspaces, a digital working environment, bike leasing, regular team events, and complimentary drinks, fruit, and snacks. Equal Opportunity Hygi.de GmbH & Co. KG is committed to an inclusive workplace. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, identities, ages, abilities, religions, and worldviews. We value the different perspectives and experiences our colleagues bring and believe that diversity strengthens our team and helps us create exceptional results.