Freelance Php Backend Developer Jobs in Ohio (NOW HIRING)

About the Role:Loop is looking for a full-stack Software Engineer to contribute directly to the design, development, and maintenance of our core products. You'll build scalable solutions, uphold technical excellence, and be a reliable partner to the engineers around you.
AI at Loop EngineeringEngineering at Loop is AI-first; not aspirationally, but operationally. Every engineer is provisioned with Claude Code and Cursor, and we expect AI agents to be your default starting point before you open a file. The role has shifted: you are not primarily a writer of code. You are the judgment layer. You are the person who determines what should be built, validates that what was built is correct, and owns the outcome in production. AI handles a growing share of implementation. You own everything that surrounds it.
Our Blended Work Environment:We work from our HQ in Columbus, OH, and are distributed throughout the United States, select Canadian provinces, United Kingdom, and Australia. For this position, we're open to Columbus, OH; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Austin, TX; Los Angeles, CA; or fully remote.
Our Tech Stack:PHP/Laravel, Vue.js, MySQL, DynamoDB, Kubernetes, AWS, Serverless. Our hiring process is tech-stack agnostic.
What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain web applications, APIs, backend services, and lambdas for the Loop product line. Match the level of rigor to the stakes. Craftsmanship doesn't mean polish everywhere; it means fit for purpose.
• Start with the agent, not the editor. Invest time in planning and intent articulation; the quality of your prompt is the quality of your output.
• Review AI-generated code with the same rigor you'd apply to any code. Plausible is not the same as correct.
• Include meaningful test coverage in every PR and contribute to a healthy CI/CD process.
• Collaborate closely with engineers, product managers, and designers. Don't wait for someone else to make the connection; own the outcome in ambiguity.
• Exhibit ownership: done means stable in merchant hands, not just merged. Flag risks early, make reversible decisions fast, and iterate.
• Make the system around you more effective, not just your own output. Whether that's raising the quality bar in code review, surfacing a pattern you're seeing in support tickets, or flagging a cross-team dependency early, contributing beyond your immediate scope is part of the job at every level.

Your Experience

• 2-4+ years building web applications, backend services, or APIs.
• You use AI agents as your default starting point and can describe your actual workflow: how you plan a task, prompt an agent, evaluate the output, and decide where to spend your review time.
• You've caught AI-generated code that looked right but wasn't. You treat it the same as code from any other source: you own what ships, regardless of how it was generated.
• You have a point of view on where AI helps and where it gets engineers into trouble, and you can speak to both from real experience.
• Experience with PHP/Laravel, AWS Serverless, or Vue.js is a strong plus, but not required.
• You care about well-tested, reliable software and have worked in agile, CI/CD environments.
• You operate with intensity and hold a high bar; for your own work and for the people around you. You give direct feedback, ask for help early, and respond to setbacks with ownership rather than withdrawal.
• You can share examples of learning from mistakes, asking for help, and growing through feedback.

$125,000 - $165,000 a year
We know that making decisions about your career and compensation is a huge deal. Because of that, we're incredibly thoughtful about our compensation strategy. We want you to feel safe and excited, but also comfortable with the compensation package of a startup. We've outlined some important information for you here, but please know there's a lot more to compensation than we can cover in this job posting. The posted salary range is the base salary for this opportunity.
The salary range is subject to change, and may be adjusted in the future.
The actual annual salary paid for this position will be based on several factors, including, but not limited to: your prior experience and skills related to the position, geographic location, company needs, current market demands, and your total compensation goals.
Great humans deserve great benefits. At Loop, you'll be eligible for benefits such as: medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible PTO, company holidays, sick & safe leave, parental leave, 401k, monthly wellness benefit, home workstation benefit, phone/internet benefit, and equity.
#LI-ST1
Loop Story
Commerce should feel effortless. Every product adored, every order perfect, every customer loyal for life. But reality is messier: operations get tangled, margins grow thin, and trust is fragile. That's where Loop steps in. We create confidence where commerce fails.
We started by fixing returns and exchanges. Today, we're building a connected commerce operations suite - powering everything from order tracking to fraud prevention, with hundreds of innovations in between. Grounded in data and insight, our platform helps merchants make smarter decisions with every transaction. Over 5,000 of the world's most loved brands trust Loop to turn cost centers into growth engines. Our mission is simple: protect margins, delight customers, and help merchants build businesses that last.
Life at Loop is rooted in our core values. We balance high empathy with high standards, knowing that work is better when we can show up authentically and resilience is built by facing challenges head-on. We expect you'll grow quickly, learning skills that last far beyond your time here. Loop is a formative chapter in your career - a chance to shape the future of commerce and to leave better than when you arrived.
Learn more about us here: https://loopreturns.com/careers.
You can review our privacy notice here.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.