I am a backend-first, full-stack engineer and contractor with 20+ years in PHP and over a decade specialising in Laravel and other frameworks. I stabilise legacy systems and design clean, modular platforms that scale, combining hands-on coding with modern practices, DevOps, and strong communication. I continually develop my skills, bringing forward AI and automation into real-world workflows that are GDPR-safe, auditable, and genuinely useful to the business. I'm comfortable leading teams, setting standards, and delivering reliable outcomes under pressure.…

Rick Morice

I am a backend-first, full-stack engineer and contractor with 20+ years in PHP and over a decade specialising in Laravel and other frameworks. I stabilise legacy systems and design clean, modular platforms that scale, combining hands-on coding with modern practices, DevOps, and strong communication. I continually develop my skills, bringing forward AI and automation into real-world workflows that are GDPR-safe, auditable, and genuinely useful to the business. I'm comfortable leading teams, setting standards, and delivering reliable outcomes under pressure.…

Available to hire

I am a backend-first, full-stack engineer and contractor with 20+ years in PHP and over a decade specialising in Laravel and other frameworks.

I stabilise legacy systems and design clean, modular platforms that scale, combining hands-on coding with modern practices, DevOps, and strong communication. I continually develop my skills, bringing forward AI and automation into real-world workflows that are GDPR-safe, auditable, and genuinely useful to the business. I’m comfortable leading teams, setting standards, and delivering reliable outcomes under pressure.

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Skills

Experience Level

SQL
Expert
CSS
Expert
Github
Expert
HTML5
Expert
API
Expert
PHP
Expert
Laravel
Expert
MySQL
Expert
Symfony
Expert
Microsoft SQL
Expert
Vue.js
Expert
Docker
Expert
JavaScript
Expert
Jira
Expert
TypeScript
Expert
PostgreSQL
Expert
MongoDB
Expert
Kubernetes
Expert
GraphQL
Expert
Azure
Expert
AWS
Expert
CakePHP
Expert
Blade templating
Expert
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Language

English
Fluent
French
Beginner

Work Experience

Lead Developer / Technical Lead at Superior Wellness
October 1, 2024 - Present
Stabilised a brittle legacy all-in-one platform (CRM, warehouse, purchasing, booking) while guiding the roadmap for a new modular Unity ecosystem. Implemented defensive migrations, security updates, and targeted bug fixes. Introduced modern Laravel practices (Form Requests, DTOs, Spatie Data) and a consistent testing culture. Established JIRA workflows, Git standards, and CI/CD for predictable releases. Led design of the Unity platform: Laravel 12 + Filament 4, JSON:API, Azure/Terraform, and AI-enabled aftersales.
Lead Developer at Kumon / LDA
September 4, 2023 - August 2, 2024
Large-scale rebuild delivering a new Laravel/MySQL platform with multilingual support, appointment scheduling, and a custom CMS. Owned core architecture and safe cut-over with complex data import. Built booking with FullCalendar and Tempus Dominus; admin UI with Bootstrap/Font Awesome; reporting via DataTables. CI/CD on Azure for frequent, safe releases.
Senior Contractor at Specialist Motor Finance
January 1, 2023 - September 1, 2023
Secured and stabilised an ageing PHP/jQuery platform to extend safe life pre-sunset. Executed critical security and version upgrades; fixed long-running defects. Introduced CI workflows, version control discipline, and JIRA processes.
Lead cover at Temper (NL/UK)
January 1, 2023 - March 31, 2023
Microservices-driven Laravel stack (matching, reporting, multi-site, multilingual). Delivered features across services, queues, and high-performance reporting. Coached juniors; enforced best practices; ensured continuity through UK launch.
Senior Contractor at Made For Trade
July 1, 2022 - January 1, 2023
Greenfield quoting platform → extended to microservices with JSON:API and a 3D front-end. Built customer management, reporting, APIs; 3D UI with Babylon.js. Worked across MySQL and SQL Server; CI (Travis), documentation and training.
Senior Contractor at Crowdfunder
July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022
Designed lightweight Symfony-based microservice APIs; strong unit testing in Docker. Delivered JSON:API-compliant services; composer-distributed clients for third parties.
Senior Engineer at Intrica
January 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021
Next-gen REST APIs on Laravel 7; Vault, multi-DB patterns, JSON:API compliance. Architecture, virtualisation, data modelling, and secure practices (banking sector).
Senior Engineer at DP Publicity
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019
Rebuilt train ticketing system: MySQL redesign, REST API, Vue front-end integration, extensive tests. Handover-ready codebase with PSR standards and strong docs.
Lead / Developer at Age Partnership
January 1, 2018 - June 30, 2020
Modernised legacy PHP; introduced testing, documentation, and standards; mentored developers.
Lead / Developer at SolderStar
January 1, 2017 - January 2, 2018
Full redesign from demo to production; Laravel, REST API, Ubuntu hosting; long extension (15 months); used by major clients.
Laravel Developer / Engineer at ADI-UK
January 1, 2016 - December 30, 2016
Laravel/MSSQL/Mongo; PSR-2, PHPUnit, PHPDocumentor; improved Agile/Scrum process.
Security / Compliance Uplift at Convergys
January 1, 2016 - December 29, 2016
Security/compliance uplift; PHP upgrades, TLS 1.2 rollout; consistent server setup across >100 servers.
WordPress Developer at Diva Creative
January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015
WordPress dev + custom plugins; bespoke DB-driven game; introduced better workflows and standards.
Laravel / Zend Developer at University of Nottingham
June 2, 2014 - December 31, 2014
Laravel & Zend work; RESTful, PSR-2 docs, PHPUnit; Vagrant dev env; Git and Bamboo pipelines.
Developer at Element Enterprises
January 1, 2014 - May 30, 2014
CakePHP metered-access platform over multi-million-row dataset.
Lead PHP / SQL Developer at Nicholas Associates
August 1, 2014 - May 29, 2014
Lead on PHP/SQL Server “Skills Matrix”; framework refactors; third-line support.
Contract Developer at Kings Foundation
January 1, 2013 - July 31, 2014
CakePHP employee-contracting app; MyDBR reporting; Moodle SSO.
Lead Developer at LINE Communications
January 1, 2012 - January 2, 2013
Lead developer across frameworks (Moodle/WordPress/Custom); broad Linux/server work.
Technical Lead at Peter Howarth Design
September 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010
Management-team technical lead; modernised stack and workflows.
Developer / QA Lead at MarkcoMedia
January 1, 2010 - August 30, 2010
OO PHP/MySQL; QA process rebuild; server maintenance.

Education

BEng Electronic Engineering (Semiconductor Devices) at University of Sheffield
September 28, 1998 - May 31, 2002

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Software & Internet, Professional Services, Media & Entertainment, Other, Education
    paper Character Humaniser

    Turn confusing strings into human-readable text (great for passwords, tokens, and codes where I vs l or ~ vs ^ cause errors).

    • Maps ambiguous characters to clear, spoken names.
    • Custom dictionaries for your domain/locale.
    • Simple PHP API; drop-in for forms and support tools.

    composer require floor9design/character-humaniser

    paper json-api-formatter

    JSON:API Formatter
    The JSON:API spec solves a lot of classic API gotchas with a precise response format. This PHP library makes it simple to build and interrogate JSON:API payloads — ideal for Laravel and Symfony projects.

    • Create and parse JSON:API resources, relationships, errors.
    • Consistent, testable API responses across services.
    • Framework-agnostic; works great with Laravel/Symfony.

    composer require floor9design/json-api-formatter