The backlog is growing faster than the team can deliver
Work is well-defined. You are short of senior hours, not of a product idea.
Senior backend engineer · Europe · B2B
Add senior backend capacity without adding another permanent hire
A senior backend engineer who can join your existing product team, work directly with developers, and take ownership of production backend work through a straightforward B2B engagement.
One contract. One senior engineer. No permanent hire required.
- One contract. One engineer.
- CET/CEST overlap with European teams
- Serbia-based · CET/CEST · B2B contract · EUR invoicing · English communication
From €300/day · Start with a 10-day paid pilot on real production work
your-team/ ├── repository I work in it ├── code review same process ├── tracker real tickets └── production I own outcomes one contract · one engineer
When this works well
This is not a way to buy a development team, and it is not a substitute for a manager. It is senior backend capacity for a team that already exists.
A specific project needs a senior engineer
A migration, a reliability push, or a bounded backend programme with a start and a review date.
The team is redesigning or migrating backend systems
Architecture decisions and production code in the same person, not a slide deck handed to someone else.
Existing engineers need additional senior capacity
Review, pairing, and someone who can own a nasty service — not another pair of hands waiting for tickets.
A permanent hire would take too long
The search can run in parallel. Delivery does not have to wait for it.
The work needs someone who takes ownership
Outcomes in your repository, not a stream of tasks that still need a tech lead to specify every step.
One contract. One engineer.
I join the engineering process personally and work in the team's existing repository, review process and delivery workflow.
You work directly with the engineer doing the work.
- Works with the existing engineering team
- Participates in architecture decisions
- Writes production code
- Reviews code
- Handles migrations
- Investigates production problems
- Works with databases and infrastructure where the backend requires it
- Communicates directly with technical stakeholders
3–5 days per week
Embedded senior backend
Inside your process, your repository and your standups. Features owned end to end.
1–2 days per week
Fractional backend lead
Architecture, review and technical decisions when the team can execute between sessions.
1–3 months
Senior cover
Temporary senior capacity while you hire, or while someone is away.
Need senior backend help without opening a role?
Tell me the stack, the size of the team, and what you would hand over first. You get a straight answer on fit and start date.
How the engagement is set up
B2B capacity, not another employment process.
One B2B agreement
A B2B service agreement with a registered Serbian sole trader. No payroll entry, employer of record or employment contract.
Monthly EUR invoice
One invoice per month from a registered business in Serbia.
CET/CEST overlap
Working-day overlap with teams in Germany, the Netherlands, France, the Nordics and the rest of the EU.
Availability
Capacity is agreed directly. If the required schedule is not available, the engagement does not start until it is.
Day rate
€300/ dayEmbedded and fractional backend work
Start with a 10-day paid pilot on real work. Ten days is enough to see output, and short enough that stopping is cheap.
Typical monthly shape
| Cadence | Billable days | Approximate monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 2 days per week | about 8 | €2,400 |
| 3 days per week | about 12 | €3,600 |
| Full-time-equivalent | scoped separately | on request |
Approximate figures at €300 per day, about four billable weeks. The invoice follows days actually worked.
Backend experience
Supporting evidence, not the product. The product is senior ownership of backend work.
Backend
Go, PHP
Frameworks
Symfony, Laravel
Data
PostgreSQL, Redis
Infrastructure
Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD
Production backend experience
8+ years commercial backend engineering
- Production PHP and Go systems
- PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker and Kubernetes
- SaaS, high-load and trading-related environments
Production backend systems
APIs, workers, PostgreSQL, Redis, queues — the path from a pull request to something that stays up.
PHP and Go in the same engagement
Feature work and repair inside existing applications, and new services where they earn their keep.
Legacy and incidents
Runtime upgrades, tangled modules, production debugging, and written decisions the team can keep.
Inside your process
Your tracker, your review rules, your deploy pipeline. No parallel agency workflow.
Pavel Beliaev
Senior Backend Engineer
I am a senior backend engineer in PHP and Go. I join European product teams on a B2B contract, write production code, and take ownership of backend work without adding a permanent employee.
Questions European teams usually ask
Do you join an existing engineering team?
Yes. That is the point of the engagement. I work in your repository, your standups that matter for the work, and your release process.
Is this staff augmentation?
It is one senior engineer on a B2B contract, expected to own outcomes rather than wait for fully specified tickets. It is not a bench, not a squad, and not an agency delivery team.
What technologies do you work with?
Production PHP and Go, typically Symfony or Laravel, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker and Kubernetes. The stack is how the work gets done. The product is senior backend capacity inside your team.
Can you take ownership of an existing backend project?
Yes, if there is a named internal counterpart and access to the real system. Ownership here means delivery through your review process, not taking the product away from your team.
How does the B2B engagement work?
One service agreement, a monthly invoice in euro, agreed days per week, CET/CEST overlap. Engagements usually start with a 10-day paid pilot on real work so both sides can stop or continue with evidence. Company details for procurement are available when your process asks for them.
If every estimate is inflated by the same ageing PHP platform, adding capacity to the current backlog may not be the first move. Start from legacy PHP modernization instead.
Next step
Need another senior engineer without starting another hiring process?
A technical call with the person who would join the team.