Expert PHP Engineer Specializing in SaaS and Performance Optimization (remote)

We are looking for a talented Expert PHP Engineer Specializing in SaaS and Performance Optimization to join our CloudLinuxOS team with perspective to be promoted to Head of WordPress Performance Engineering.

CloudLinux is a global remote-first company. We are driven by our principles: do the right thing, employees first, we are remote first, and we deliver high volume, low-cost Linux infrastructure and security products that help companies to increase the efficiency of their operations. Every person on our team supports each other and does what we can to ensure we all are successful.

CloudLinux OS, our flagship product, runs on more than 50,000 production servers today, powering over 40 million websites, and is recognized as the best OS for security and efficiency in a shared hosting environment. CloudLinux OS increases server density and enhances security, thus reducing operating costs, decreasing churn rates, and increasing profitability.

As a part of the CloudLinux OS department, the CL PRO Team focuses on the diagnostic and optimization of WordPress sites (PHP X-Ray, AccelerateWP), advanced automation, deep-look performance analytics, and centralized monitoring tools.

Check out our website for more information about our CLOS Product https://www.cloudlinux.com/

Key Responsibilities:

• Actively participate in defining and driving forward the main strategy, product vision, roadmap, and backlog for optimizing PHP/WordPress sites, in alignment with the technical needs and goals of the organization.
• Develop and evolve the existing optimization and diagnostic features
• Make an active comparison with analogs and search for the best website optimization solutions in the market
• Generate and explore ideas for optimization
• Implement necessary metrics to monitor product success and provide ongoing oversight of these metrics
• Lead and manage a team of web developers ensuring effective collaboration and high-quality output
• Developing UI/UX solutions together with a designer
• Lead and support technical escalations with global customers, presenting analysis, reports, insights, and findings
• Collaborate closely with stakeholders to understand their needs and expectations, translating these into actionable tasks for the team
• Ensure the product meets user needs and provides an excellent user experience, with a particular focus on website performance and speed
• Identify potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them, ensuring the smooth delivery of the product
• Develop and maintain strong and healthy relationships with peers from the other development units, customer success, presales, and other stakeholders at Imunify

Required Skills and Knowledge:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in site optimization and web technologies
• Active engagement in the WordPress community
• Proficiency with programming languages such as PHP (including PHP (7.4-8.3) and JavaScript, and in web technologies such as HTML and CSS (with an understanding of architecture and optimization approaches)
• Strong knowledge of WordPress, including themes, plugins, optimization techniques, and explicit development of plugins
• Understanding and applying different existing solutions/plugins for performance improvement; understanding the variances between different optimization features
• Strong understanding of various caching techniques/protocols, including web server & edge level caching
• Experience with tools that measure web page performance and a strong understanding of the most important evaluating performance metrics
• Good understanding of caching mechanisms
• Understanding of the most important and popular paint points in WordPress
• Ability to identify bottlenecks and optimize WordPress sites for performance improvement (caching, query optimization, resource minimization)
• Strong understanding of web servers such as Apache, Nginx, Litespeed and their advantages/disadvantages
• Experience using Redis/Memcached for caching and data processing acceleration
• Familiarity with web design principles, user experience (UX) design, and accessibility standards
• Knowledge of SEO practices and web analytics to improve a website’s visibility and performance
• Understanding of how to create websites that work well on a variety of devices and screen sizes
• Knowledge of web security practices to protect websites from threats and vulnerabilities
• Understanding of how to ensure websites function and display correctly across different web browsers
• Knowledge of web services like REST or SOAP, which allow different software applications to communicate with each other
• Proficiency in database management and optimization, with knowledge of SQL or NoSQL databases
• Experience with Docker, CI/CD tools (GitLab, Jenkins, etc.)
• Experience with Git, understanding of team processes through pull requests and code review
• Understanding and ability to apply OOP principles, SOLID
• Experience in writing unit and integration tests. Practical skills in developing tests for improving stability and code coverage. Experience in writing E2E tests (for example, Playwright)
• Experience with e-commerce platforms, which are used to create online stores
• Hands-on experience in Linux (experience with popular distributions such as CentOS, Almalinux, CloudLinux, and Debian)
• Experience with microservice architecture
• Experience in code review and mentoring for less experienced team members
• Experience participating in architectural decisions and planning of new features and products

It would be great if you also have:

• Experience with other CMS like Drupal or Joomla
• Knowledge of web hosting control panels such as cPanel, Plesk, or DirectAdmin
• Knowledge of popular frameworks and libraries such as AngularJS, ReactJS, or Vue.js.
• Experience with Python

Personal Qualities:

• Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate a team
• A problem-solving mindset, with the ability to think creatively and come up with innovative solutions to challenges
• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines, while maintaining a high standard of work
• Attention to detail, ensuring all aspects of the product are thoroughly considered and executed
• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities effectively
• Can-do attitude, customer-facing, accountable, positive attitude, time management, and multitasking skills
• Willing to be on alert during off-work hours as necessary
• Excellent presentation, communication skills, and excellent English (speaking, reading, and writing)