Full-Stack Developer (Laravel + Modern Frontend)

Full-Stack Developer (Laravel + Modern Frontend)
Location: San Diego, CA (US Based Remote acceptable)
Employment Type: Full-Time

About Us
R1 Learning makes R1 Discover, a behavioral health SaaS platform used across healthcare, corrections, and education. Our evidence-based interactive curriculum is available in both hands-on and digital formats, our curriculum covers topics in Mental Health & Wellness, Substance Use & Addiction, and Life Skills. Our products serve as engagement tools for clients, development tools for the workforce, and generate highly structured data to support outcome measurement.

Job Description:
We are a fast-growing SaaS company in behavioral health, looking for a Full-Stack Developer to join our team. We're seeking a creator with an entrepreneurial mindset, someone who is insanely curious and passionate about solving complex problems.

You’ll work directly with our leadership team to design, build, and ship features across our Laravel based platform. Our frontend is undergoing modernization; you'll play a key role in evolving it from a jQuery/Blade foundation toward a modern component-driven architecture. Our platform serves sensitive populations in healthcare, corrections, and education, so security isn't an afterthought, it's central to everything we build. This is a unique opportunity to own projects end-to-end and directly shape a mission-driven platform that is expanding rapidly across the nation in healthcare, corrections, and education. This role has the potential to grow into a leadership position as we scale our team.

Key Responsibilities:

Frontend
• Lead the modernization of our frontend from jQuery/Blade templates toward a modern component-based framework (Vue.js 3 or React).
• Build responsive, accessible interfaces for interactive activities, assessments, and dashboards using Bootstrap 5.
• Architect reusable UI components and establish frontend patterns and standards for the team.
• Maintain and improve existing jQuery/Blade functionality during the transition.
• Write frontend tests using Jest and maintain build pipelines (Laravel Mix/Webpack).

Backend
• Develop and maintain features using Laravel 12 (PHP 8.3) within a modular plugin-based architecture (~36 plugins).
• Design and optimize MySQL 8.0 queries and Redis caching strategies for performance at scale.
• Build and maintain RESTful APIs that serve both internal frontends and third-party integrations.
• Write and maintain tests using PHPUnit, and use static analysis tools (Larastan/PHPStan) and Laravel Pint for code quality.
• Integrate third-party services such as Stripe and AWS SDK.

Security
• Implement and maintain authentication and authorization flows including JWT, SAML 2.0, LTI 1.3, OAuth 2.0, and two-factor authentication.
• Enforce multi-tenant data isolation and company-scoped access controls.
• Apply security best practices: input validation, CSRF protection, rate limiting, secure session management, and proper CORS configuration.
• Participate in security reviews and help identify and remediate vulnerabilities (OWASP Top 10).

DevOps & Infrastructure
• Collaborate on deployments with Docker, Nginx, and AWS ECS Fargate.
• Contribute to CI/CD workflows using Bitbucket Pipelines.
• Monitor application health using CloudWatch and Grafana.

What We’re Looking For

Must-Haves:
• 3+ years of experience with Laravel/PHP (Laravel 10+ preferred).
• 3+ years of strong frontend development experience with at least one modern framework (Vue.js 3 or React).
• Proven ability to architect and build component-driven UIs from the ground up.
• Strong JavaScript/ES6+ fundamentals — not just framework knowledge.
• Strong SQL skills (MySQL) and experience with query optimization.
• Solid understanding of web application security: authentication protocols (JWT, OAuth, SAML), CSRF, XSS prevention, input validation, and secure session handling.
• Experience with Docker and modern CI/CD workflows.
• Familiarity with AWS services (RDS, S3, ECS, CloudWatch).
• Solid Git workflow experience (Bitbucket).

Nice-to-Haves:
• Experience modernizing legacy jQuery codebases to modern frameworks.
• Experience with multi-tenant SaaS applications and data isolation patterns.
• Familiarity with Botble CMS or modular Laravel plugin architectures.
• LTI 1.3 or SAML 2.0 integration experience.
• Payment integrations (Stripe).
• Experience with Laravel Mix/Webpack build configuration.
• Monitoring and observability tools (Grafana, CloudWatch).
• Familiarity with Nginx configuration and performance tuning.
• Experience with AI-assisted development workflows (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or similar tools) and an understanding of how to use them without compromising code quality or security.

Soft Skills:
• Entrepreneurial Mindset and Curiosity: You're a creator, not just a coder. You take initiative, contribute ideas, and have a thirst for learning that helps solve problems and thrive on change.
• Adaptable and Collaborative: You thrive in a dynamic environment where priorities can shift quickly. You are a clear communicator and an exceptional collaborator with a team-first mindset.
• Loves Structure and Organization: You believe in a clean, well-documented codebase and appreciate structured processes.
• Security-Conscious: You think about attack vectors before writing code. You understand that our platform serves vulnerable populations and treat data protection as a first-class concern.
• Strong Problem-Solving Skills: You have a solid skill set for debugging and proactively improving code. You are also comfortable using AI-assisted tools to enhance your work, and you know when to trust them and when to think critically about their output.

Why Work at R1 Learning?
• Build tech that makes a real impact in behavioral health, justice, and education.
• Lead a meaningful frontend modernization initiative with real architectural ownership.
• Join a growing SaaS company with a strong mission.
• Work directly with leadership and see your contributions matter.

Benefits
✅ Medical, Dental, Vision
✅ Paid Time Off
✅ Retirement Plan (401k)
✅ Growth opportunities