Senior Software Engineer

Location: Paramaribo, SurinameCompany: Celery - Online Payroll & HRM Most job ads claim to offer exciting challenges. We prefer honesty. The next 12 to 18 months at Celery will involve real engineering work that requires clear thinking, technical maturity, and the confidence to make decisions that shape the future of the platform. Celery builds payroll and HRM software for the Caribbean, Suriname, and Guyana. Our customer base is growing quickly, and the technical demands are rising along with it. To support this growth, we are looking for a senior engineer who values craftsmanship, autonomy, and the freedom to influence both product and culture. What you will doTake ownership of complex engineering challenges, including scaling the platform for employers with more than 2,000 employees and improving older parts of the codebase.Guide the evolution of our architecture with thoughtful refactoring, performance improvements and structural changes that matter long term.Use AI tools like Claude Code and OpenAI Codex to improve documentation, tests, pull requests and design work, and help us integrate AI more deeply into our workflow.Lead with strong technical judgment and raise the quality of the team’s decisions.Build end to end across PHP, MySQL, React Native and internal tools.Mentor and challenge other developers to help the team think more clearly and reason more deeply.Ship with responsibility instead of pressure. We prioritize strong systems over arbitrary deadlines.What you bringAt least 7 years of professional experience in modern web development.Strong backend skills in PHP, MySQL, REST APIs and Laravel-style architectures.Solid understanding of React Native and comfort working across the stack.A clear and structured way of thinking.Curiosity about AI assisted development.A strong sense of ownership and personal integrity.Fluent English. Dutch or Spanish is a plus.What you getReal freedom to influence architecture, product decisions and long-term direction.Time to build things properly, without deadline politics or micromanagement.A budget for tools and education, plus access to state-of-the-art AI systems.A small team of skilled, thoughtful developers who challenge your ideas and value deep technical discussions.Work that stretches your skills, including performance challenges, multi-jurisdiction payroll logic and long-lasting architectural decisions.A modern office with good hardware, snacks, and a company culture that respects its people.Who should not applyThis role is not for people who avoid responsibility, take credit for other people’s work, resist growth, or want a “just tell me what to build” environment.Celery has offices in Curaçao and Suriname, but we are also open for applicants in the AST timezone who are fluent in English.