Senior PHP/Node.js Full Stack Developer - Distribution Platform

Position Overview

We are seeking an exceptional Senior PHP/Node.js Full Stack Developer to drive excellence in our Distribution Platform development. Our distribution platform powers B2B2C digital insurance partnerships, enabling seamless insurance distribution through APIs, white-label solutions, and agent portals for leading travel brands and major online travel agencies across 19+ countries. This role focuses on individual technical excellence and deep technical contributions, building enterprise-grade solutions that serve millions of transactions globally as our go-to technical expert.

How We Work At Ancileo

• We’re a lean, fast-moving team where every engineer has real impact and every commitment matters. To succeed here, you’ll need to be someone who:

• Delivers on commitments. When you give an estimate, partners and teammates build plans around it. You track your own progress, flag risks early, and when work slips you take the initiative to recover the timeline. You don’t wait to be asked.

• Owns outcomes, not just tickets. You go beyond what’s assigned. If you notice a fragile integration, a missing test, a slow query or a gap in documentation, you fix it or raise it with a proposed solution, without waiting for your manager.

• Thrives at speed. Our work moves between partner integrations, production issues, new features and technical discussions, often in the same day. You switch context quickly, diagnose problems fast, and make sound decisions without perfect information.

• Leads solution design. You don’t just implement specs. You take an ambiguous business requirement, design the solution, defend the trade-offs, and see it through to production.

What You'll Build & Master

Solution Design & Technical Leadership

• Own end-to-end solution design for new partner integrations and platform features, from requirements analysis and technical design documents through implementation and production rollout

• Translate ambiguous business and partner requirements into clear technical designs with documented trade-offs

• Lead design reviews and guide other engineers on implementation approach for complex features

Delivery & Operational Ownership

• Commit to realistic delivery estimates and take full accountability for meeting them, proactively communicating risks and recovery plans

• Act as first responder for incidents on components you own, driving root-cause analysis and preventive fixes

• Proactively identify and resolve technical debt, reliability risks and performance issues in your areas of ownership without waiting for them to be assigned

Technical Excellence & Architecture

• Contribute to technical strategy and roadmap planning for distribution platform evolution and international market expansion

• Champion coding standards, best practices, and serve as the technical reference point for complex challenges

• Utilize AI-powered development tools to accelerate code review processes and maintain high code quality standards

Individual Contribution & Deep Technical Work

• Focus on high-impact, complex technical challenges that require deep expertise and individual problem-solving

• Take ownership of critical platform components and become the subject matter expert for specialized areas

• Drive technical innovation through independent research, prototyping, and implementation of cutting-edge solutions

• Serve as the technical consultant for challenging integration requirements and platform capabilities

Enterprise Development

• Develop high-performance web applications using advanced Laravel framework patterns and Node.js for complex partnership integrations

• Build sophisticated API solutions and third-party integrations with travel platforms, payment gateways, and insurance carrier systems

• Implement white-label solutions with advanced customization capabilities for seamless partner brand integration

• Optimize database performance and design complex data relationships for large-scale distribution analytics and reporting

Platform Innovation & Technology Mastery

• Pioneer innovation in insurance distribution technology, researching and implementing cutting-edge solutions for digital partnerships

• Lead the adoption of emerging technologies such as AI/ML integration for intelligent distribution workflows

• Drive platform scalability initiatives that support expansion into new markets and partnership opportunities through innovative caching strategies, database sharding techniques, and distributed system optimization

• Champion modern development methodologies and technical best practices

• Champion modern AI-enhanced development practices and establish best practices for AI tool integration across the development team

Essential Criteria

Work Ethic & Ownership (Essential)

• Proven track record of delivering committed work on schedule in fast-paced environments, including taking personal initiative to recover timelines when projects slip

• Demonstrated history of going beyond assigned scope, with specific examples of problems you identified and solved on your own initiative

• Experience working in environments with frequent context switching (e.g., balancing feature development, partner support and production incidents)

• Experience leading the technical design of at least one significant system or feature end to end, including written design documentation

• Comfort handling production incidents under time pressure, including occasional after-hours response

Technical Mastery (10+ years required)

• Advanced PHP Expertise: Deep understanding of PHP 8+, object-oriented programming, design patterns, and modern development practices

• Node.js Proficiency: Strong experience with Node.js runtime, Express.js/Fastify frameworks, asynchronous programming patterns, and modern JavaScript (ES6+)

• Framework Excellence: Extensive experience with Laravel including custom package development and framework optimization

• Database Architecture: Advanced knowledge of MySQL, query optimization, indexing strategies, and database design for high-traffic applications

• API Development Excellence: Proven track record in designing and building RESTful APIs using PHP (Laravel) and Node.js, and complex third-party integrations at enterprise scale including Payment processing integration and financial transaction security protocols

• Performance Optimization: Experience with performance monitoring and application profiling tools (Datadog)

• Quality Assurance: Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks (PHPUnit, Laravel Dusk) with comprehensive test coverage strategies

• AI-Assisted Development (2+ years preferred): Experience with modern AI development tools for code generation, review, and optimization

AI-Enhanced Development Proficiency

• Demonstrated experience with AI-powered code review tools (CodeRabbit, SonarQube AI, or similar)

• Proficiency with AI coding assistants (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor AI, or equivalent)

• Experience leveraging AI tools for code quality improvement, automated testing, and documentation generation

• Understanding of AI-assisted debugging and performance optimization workflows

Technical Communication & Expertise

• Technical Authority: Demonstrated expertise in making sound architectural decisions and providing technical guidance on complex challenges

• Documentation Excellence: Strong technical writing skills for API documentation, system architecture, and technical specifications

• Stakeholder Communication: Excellent communication skills for interfacing with business stakeholders, partners, and technical teams

• Independent Problem-Solving: Proven ability to work autonomously on complex technical challenges and deliver high-quality solutions

Enterprise-Grade Development

• Scalability Focus: Experience building applications that handle millions of transactions with high availability and performance requirements

• Cloud Architecture: Proficiency with AWS services (EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda, EKS, ECS, SQS, SNS) and cloud-native development patterns

• DevOps Integration: Understanding of CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker), and infrastructure as code

• Security Mindset: Knowledge of security best practices, data protection, and compliance requirements for financial/insurance platforms

Problem-Solving & Innovation

• Complex Problem Resolution: Ability to debug complex distributed systems and resolve performance bottlenecks in high-traffic environments

• Technical Innovation: Track record of researching, evaluating, and implementing new technologies to solve business challenges

• System Integration: Experience with complex B2B2C integrations, payment processing, and multi-tenant architecture patterns

• Quality Excellence: Strong advocate for testing practices, code quality, and maintainable software architecture

Technical Excellence Qualifications

• Deep Technical Expertise: 10+ years of software engineering experience building complex web applications, including significant time at senior level

• Specialized Knowledge: Deep expertise in specific technical domains relevant to distribution platform development

Bonus Qualifications

Advanced Technical Experience:

• Experience with insurance, fintech, or travel industry platforms and regulatory requirements

• Knowledge of payment processing systems, PCI compliance, and financial data security

• Experience with high-traffic e-commerce platforms and real-time transaction processing

• Experience with technical research and evaluation of emerging technologies

• Understanding of B2B2C business models and partnership technology requirements

• Experience training or customizing AI models for code review and quality assurance

• Track record of implementing AI-powered development workflows in enterprise environments

• Knowledge of prompt engineering for technical documentation and code generation

Is This Role Right for You?

You’ll thrive here if you:

• Feel personally responsible when something you built breaks, or when a deadline you committed to is at risk

• Get energy from solving hard problems quickly and don’t need every detail specified before you start

• Naturally fix things you notice, even when they’re outside your assigned task

• Want to design solutions, not just implement other people’s designs

• Enjoy a fast-moving environment where priorities can shift as partner needs evolve

This role probably isn’t for you if you:

• Prefer a predictable 9-to-6 with clearly defined, narrowly scoped tasks

• Are uncomfortable with occasional after-hours incident response

• Prefer to work only on what’s explicitly assigned

• Find frequent context switching draining rather than energizing

Application Process:

Send your resume to candice@ancileo.com along with brief answers (150–250 words each) to:

• Describe a time a project you were responsible for was falling behind schedule. What did you do, and what was the outcome?

• Tell us about something you fixed or improved that nobody asked you to. Why did you take it on?

• Describe a system or feature you designed end to end. What were the key trade-offs, and what would you do differently now?

• Which of the qualities described in “How We Work at Ancileo” best describes you? Give a specific example from your experience that shows it.

• Include links to GitHub repositories, technical writing, or design documents you’ve authored if available.

Please note: Applications submitted without answers to all four questions will not be considered.