Senior PHP Developer Roles and Responsibilities

The corporate world has a significant demand for PHP developers.

How do we know?

Well, according to Statista, PHP is one of the most in-demand programming languages. With a market share of 45.43% in 2021 (expected to grow even further in the forecasted years).

Even though PHP Developers are in massive demand, recruiters often fail to understand senior PHP developers' key roles and responsibilities.

And that's why we have complied with all the required details in this blog.

Read on to learn more on the same, including senior PHP developer roles and responsibilities, educational qualifications, market demands, and so on.

What is PHP Developer?

A PHP Developer focuses on creating, testing, and deploying software that is written in the PHP programming language. A scripting language called PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is frequently used to provide web pages with more functionality. It enables developers to create dynamically produced material quickly.

Senior PHP developers proficient in PHP programming record and correct any errors in PHP code in software development, web-based applications, and website integration. People that fill this position frequently have excellent communication skills and attention to detail.

Responsibilities of a Senior PHP Developer

• Regularly deploying, testing, and developing new, creative websites.
• Effectively design, maintain, and track the PHP web applications.
• Use common web development tools to create scalable, reliable apps and maintain them.
• Make changes as per customer feedback.
• Do cross-browser testing.
• Update existing websites with clean object-oriented PHP and effective SQL, and create semantic markup.
• Analyse, plan, create, and support application systems.
• Keep thorough records of the requirements for the website, the products, the functionality, the structures, and more.
• To identify hazards and develop suitable solutions, evaluate company requirements.
• When preparing solutions, use tools to create client-specific interfaces, data analysis libraries, and workflows.
• Provide product managers and other staff members with technical guidance and experience.
• Technical and non-technical specifications and procedures should be documented.
• Keep up with and oversee the exhaustive documentation.
• Examine the product specification documentation.
• suggest technical business decisions for performance, scalability, security, and dependability.
• Effectively communicate all work progress, schedules, comments, evaluations, and technical and procedural difficulties.
• Write design guidelines with the assistance of knowledgeable advisors.
• Engage in conference calls with partners.
• Identify and fix PHP development problems.
  

Required Skills and Qualifications for a Senior PHP Developer 

• A graduate/post-graduate degree in computer science or a related subject.
• Understanding of PHP web frameworks like Laravel, Yii, and CodeIgniter.
• Familiarity with front-end technologies, including HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3.
• Knowledge of PHP object-oriented programming.
• Prior knowledge of building scalable applications.
• Competent with Git, Mercurial, CVS, and SVN, among other code versioning systems.
• Databases in SQL and NoSQL are familiar.
• Willingness to oversee projects.
• Excellent problem-solving abilities.
  

Job Outlook and Salary

Before we dive into the salary structure, these numbers are mere estimations of the round-off figure for senior PHP developers. Therefore, these won't be the exact figures but can give you a general idea of the estimated salary structure.

Here are the salary figures from different sources:

• Glassdoor: $97k annually, with a range of $71k to $126k.
• ZipRecruiter: $86k/year, ranging from $16k to $137k.
• PayScale: $64k annually, ranging from $62k to $125k.
• Indeed: $94k/year, ranging from $72K to $138K.
• Salary.com: $63k annually, ranging from $63k to $91k.
  
  

How can you find a Senior PHP developer?

Considering the recent competitive market, finding a senior PHP developer can be a real challenge, especially for a senior position. But there’s always a loophole, and here it’s digitalization. Keep reading to find out the best platform to find top talent out there, fulfilling Senior PHP developer roles and responsibilities.

• Job Board: You can reach a larger audience by posting your need for a Senior PHP developer on job platforms like Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn. Include all pertinent information regarding the position, such as the qualifications and experience needed.
• Freelancing boards: You can identify and hire freelance PHP developers with the necessary training and expertise using sites like Upwork, Fiverr, Flexjobs, SimplyHired, Freelancer, and Toptal. You can review their resumes and previous work history to decide if they fit your project well.
• Referrals: Request recommendations from coworkers, friends, or other businesspeople in your network who have worked with PHP developers. They might be able to suggest someone who is qualified and experienced enough to work on your project.
• LinkedIn: If you're looking for skilled PHP developers, check out LinkedIn. You can look for potential prospects using terms like "PHP developer," "Senior PHP developer," and others. You can also narrow your search results by region, experience, and other criteria.
• Technical Communities: Look for online groups and forums where PHP programmers congregate to exchange ideas and seek assistance. Finding seasoned PHP developers that are enthusiastic about their profession and eager to share their skills can be easy in these communities.
• Conferences and Events: Join PHP-related conferences and events to network with other PHP professionals. This might be a terrific method to network with possible applicants and discover the most recent trends and industry best practices.

You can check out these candidate sourcing tools for recruiters to enhance your recruitment process!

How to assess and evaluate PHP developers?

Tech talent had grown faster than ever, and the pandemic acted as a catalyst. The pandemic led to the creation of 178,000 new tech jobs in 2022, forecasted to go higher from here.

So how do you assess and evaluate candidates for Senior PHP developer roles and responsibilities? You can do so by using AI-powered advanced technological recruitment portals to conduct technical, behavioral, aptitude, and other assessments.

One of the top pre-employment assessment portals, iMocha offers 7 ready-to-use pre-hire PHP developer skills assessment tests. These assessments are ideal for assessing candidates objectively before the interview round. iMocha's PHP Web Developer test has been proven to reduce hiring costs by a whopping 20%.

In addition, you can also make a custom test using iMocha's extensive library of 2500+ skills that allows you to manage the number of questions, difficulty level of questions, and more. Once the candidate submits the assessment, the test will be auto-graded using iMocha's powerful, advanced AI-powered grading portal. Read on to this blog to know top 25 tips for hiring tech talent. 

Here's the list of iMocha's ready-to-use, pre-hire PHP developer assessments:

• Online PHP Technical Test
• PHP Web Developer Test
• PHP Subjective Test
• PHP Coding Test
• PHP Coding Test (Medium)
• PHP Senior Developer Test
• PHP 7 Programming Test

To access the customization portal for PHP, click here.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the roles and responsibilities of a senior PHP developer are vast and must be fulfilled for the success of any web development project. Senior PHP Developer will also look after the entire front-end and back-end team to complete the work within a focused time and budget.

Recruiters can utilize the senior PHP developer's roles and responsibilities mentioned above. This will, in turn, streamline the hiring process and recruit only the ideal candidate among the horde.

If you're in search of a proficient PHP developer, discover the ideal candidate for your team by utilizing our interview questions for PHP developers that cover PHP fundamentals, MVC frameworks, and front-end development.

FAQ

1. What does a PHP developer do?
Writing server-side web application logic is the primary responsibility of a PHP developer. Most of the time, PHP developers create the back-end components, connect the program to other (typically external) web services, and assist front-end developers by integrating their work with the application.

2. What skills are required for a senior PHP developer?

• Understanding of APIs, Unix/Linux, MVC Framework Architecture, CakePHP- an open-source web framework, and PHPUnit- a unit testing framework.
• Creating servers and databases for website operation, creating code for mobile platforms, and designing user interactions on websites.
  

3. What are the roles and responsibilities of a full-stack PHP developer?
A full-stack PHP developer's primary roles and responsibilities include designing, building, and maintaining web applications using PHP technology.
Here are some key roles:

• Writing server-side (back-end) web application logic.
• Connect the application with third-party web services.
•  Collaborate with front-end developers and support them in integrating their work with the application.
• Participate actively in quality control activities such as design and code reviews, unit testing, defect repairs, and operational preparedness.
• Develop and execute focused technical mentoring, workshops, and training.

4. How to assess PHP developers?
Since the role requires technical expertise, assessing a PHP developer's skills needs strategic planning. Here’s how you can assess candidates;

• Leverage technical assessment.
• Ask for projects portfolio.
• Behavioral assessments.
• Work sample programming tasks.