Senior Software Engineer

Senior Software Engineer (PHP & Symfony)Expert computing. Goal‑oriented tasks. Endless upskilling.Salary: £54,000 – £64,000 (+ Benefits)Grade: P3MPReports to: Lead Software EngineerContract: PermanentHours: Full time – 35 hours per weekLocation: Stratford, London. Office‑based with high flexibility (1‑2 days per week in the office)Visa sponsorship: Cancer Research UK can consider visa sponsorship for this vacancy – please indicate if you require it.Closing date: 02 December 2025 23:55Recruitment process: One competency‑based interview with a technical exercise. Shortlisting is rolling; please apply early.How to apply: We operate an anonymised shortlisting process for equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are not seen until an interview invitation. Please complete the work history section of the online application form to enable a swift assessment.About the roleAt Cancer Research UK we exist to beat cancer. We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. We are looking for a talented Senior Software Engineer to help us develop modern, scalable solutions that advance our Fundraising & Trading portfolio. You will primarily work with PHP Symfony to build the back‑end of our Online Fundraising Web Application, an in‑house solution that has created half a million fundraising pages and processed 2.6 million donations, raising around £65 million.In this role you will collaborate closely with product teams to deliver high‑quality, scalable software. You will champion best practices, drive technical excellence, and mentor junior engineers. Your autonomy will allow you to lead feature development and make key technical decisions.ResponsibilitiesDeliver specific development packages for our Fundraising & Trading product teams and run these applications in production.Back‑end creation and development of Cancer Research UK’s Online Fundraising Web Application using PHP Symfony.Apply Lean and Agile principles to produce high‑quality code with minimal bugs and high supportability.Work independently or with Solution Architects to design new solutions aligned with our Engineering strategy.Deliver backlog items autonomously for existing products.Collaborate with Product Managers, Service Designers, UX Designers, and Business Analysts to identify user needs and iterate on solutions.Mentor junior Software Engineers.Essential skillsProven experience writing clean, readable, properly tested code with design patterns.Strong knowledge of PHP and preferably Symfony (other PHP frameworks such as Drupal or Laravel are acceptable).Familiarity with JavaScript/TypeScript and willingness to learn new languages, frameworks and tools.Experience using large‑scale code repositories.Experience developing REST APIs and other back‑end components.Experience running critical services in production and designing highly available, scalable, secure solutions.Awareness of accessibility standards and guidelines.Strong communication with technical and non‑technical stakeholders.Availability to start with one month’s notice or less (longer notice periods are acceptable if requirements are met).Desirable skillsActed as a Senior or Lead engineer, defining solutions and reviewing junior work.Significant PHP experience and readiness to step into a senior role, including coaching colleagues.ValuesWe value bold ambition, credible rigor, human empathy and inclusive collaboration. We seek people who embody these qualities and drive progress toward beating cancer.BenefitsWe provide a generous benefits package, wide career and personal development opportunities, and a supportive work environment that promotes wellbeing and work‑life balance. Learn more on our careers page.Additional informationFor more information, visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.We actively encourage applications from diverse backgrounds, especially those from ethnic minority groups. If you need adjustments during the application or interview process, please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.Applicants must be 18 years of age or older. #J-18808-Ljbffr