We're looking for a Backend Developer Lead to take technical ownership of the core platform at Ultimate Guitar — the world's largest destination for musicians, with over 14 million monthly active users. This is a hands-on leadership role: you'll drive architecture decisions, mentor engineers, and own the technical direction of the platform — while staying close to the code.
We are actively integrating AI and automation into all areas of the business and expect candidates with a mindset focused on improving efficiency and delivering a better user experience.
What is in it for you?
Real impact at scale. Your work will reach 14M+ musicians every month — across the platform that defines how the world learns and plays guitar.
Ownership from day one. You'll shape the technical direction of the platform, not just execute tickets. We trust our leads to drive decisions.
A team that values craft. We allocate dedicated capacity to technical debt, run regular architecture discussions, and take engineering quality seriously — not just velocity.
Room to grow. Direct path to broader engineering leadership as the company scales, with full support for learning new tools and practices.
Design and evolve scalable backend architecture and core platform services
Lead technical initiatives from solution design and estimation through production release
Develop new functionality, improve existing systems, and reduce technical debt
Ensure system scalability, reliability, performance, and maintainability
Optimize databases, APIs, caching layers, and background processing
Identify and resolve production incidents, bottlenecks, and technical risks
Participate in architectural decision-making and long-term platform evolution
Conduct code reviews and maintain engineering quality standards
Mentor developers, support onboarding, and provide technical leadership within the team
Collaborate with Product, Analytics, QA, and other engineering teams
Technical
5–7+ years of commercial PHP development experience
Strong knowledge of modern PHP (8.0+) and backend engineering best practices
Solid hands-on experience with Yii2
Experience designing scalable backend systems with a strong grasp of software architecture and system design principles
Strong MySQL experience: schema design, indexing, query optimization, performance tuning
Experience with high-load production systems and application performance optimization
Experience designing APIs and service integrations
Solid Git workflows, code review practices, and CI/CD experience
Strong debugging, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis skills
Leadership & Ownership
Proven experience leading development teams or major technical initiatives
Ability to independently drive projects from design to production
Experience working with large legacy codebases and driving incremental modernisation without disrupting business operations
Strong estimation, planning, prioritisation, and risk management skills
Experience mentoring engineers and supporting their professional growth
Soft skills
Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset
Effective communication and collaboration in cross-functional teams
High autonomy, accountability, and product ownership
Product-oriented thinking with a focus on business impact
Nice to have
Interest in music and willingness to go deep on the product domain
Experience building large-scale consumer products
Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, etc.)
Creativity every day: Make inspiring products for musicians, artists and creators – no day is the same.
Impactful work Influence the future of the music industry and change the lives of millions worldwide.
Work set up: We’ll make sure you’re set up for success with the right work equipment, whether that’s company-provided hardware or an equipment allowance.
Growth and development: Receive specialized training, language lessons, conferences and learning materials.
Team well-being: Support for your mental health and wellbeing, including confidential help during life’s tougher moments.
Published on: 7/14/2026
Muse Group
Muse Group - develops international products for musicians with 400+ million users 🔥 among products - Ultimate Guitar, Musescore, Audacy, etc.
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