Senior Software Engineer · Lead PHP Symfony Developer
Medialeads
Medialeads is a technology subsidiary of the European Sourcing group, created in 2013 to structure the software development division. Located in Begles (Boulevard Jean-Jacques Bosc) under the trade name JOVETTE, the company designs and maintains a complete ecosystem of interconnected B2B platforms for the promotional products industry and professional sourcing.
2013
Founded
4-10
Developers
10+
Platforms
B2B
Promotional products
Within Medialeads, I was positioned as lead PHP Symfony developer and technical reference for the team. My scope covered the entire project ecosystem: European Sourcing, Tradexpo, My Easy Web, Birds Marketplace and client portals.
I worked directly with the Project Manager to translate functional requirements into technical specifications.
I supervised junior and mid-level developers, led code reviews and defined the team's technical conventions. I had full autonomy over architecture decisions, technology choices and deployments.
Millions
Products indexed
Elasticsearch
10+
Platforms
B2B ecosystem
40+
Client sites
MyEasyWeb
254+
Suppliers
Data pipeline
4-10
Developers
Mentored
7
Languages
i18n translation
- Full-stack development of custom ERP, PIM, CRM and Marketplace platforms using Symfony v2/v3, generating digital storefronts for clients (Sommet de l'Elevage, Medical Place, Rusty Bobby, Groupe Plaisirs du Vin)
- Led the migration from Apache Solr to Elasticsearch for indexing millions of products, with cluster configuration and search query optimization
- Designed and maintained REST APIs (FOSRestBundle + JWT RSA 4096-bit + Swagger/NelmioApiDoc + HATEOAS) for interconnecting the platform ecosystem
- Reusable multi-bundle architecture with Symfony: CoreBundle (shared Doctrine entities), ApiBundle (REST API), PostgreSearchBundle (native PostgreSQL full-text search)
- Implemented software architecture patterns: abstract Repository, abstract Controller, custom JsonDecoder, reusable Doctrine traits (CreatedUpdatedAt, SoftDeletable, Localized, Sortable)
- Architected and deployed Proxmox LXC virtualization, optimizing development and deployment environments on dedicated OVH servers
- Developed AngularJS v1 frontends (Bootstrap 3, Bower, Grunt, Compass/SASS) connected to documented REST APIs
- Code review and validation for other engineers, mentoring junior and mid-level developers, pair programming, defining team technical standards
- Led SEO strategy and Google AdWords (SEA) campaigns, collaborated with Universem agency (Belgium) for backlinks and search rankings
- Administered the internal technical wiki (DokuWiki): documenting projects, servers, deployment procedures and technical configurations
- Managed production and staging servers (OVH), handled SVN deployments then progressive migration to Git/GitHub
Solr to Elasticsearch migration
Performance and scalability for millions of indexed products. Solr could no longer handle the load or complex faceting queries.
Reduced search time, operational clustering, advanced faceting on B2B catalog.
Symfony multi-bundle architecture
Code reusability across 10+ ecosystem projects. Each project started from scratch without a shared foundation.
CoreBundle (shared entities), ApiBundle (REST API), PostgreSearchBundle (full-text) - shared across all projects.
JWT RSA 4096-bit authentication
Securing cross-platform APIs. Classic sessions did not work for machine-to-machine calls between services.
Stateless authentication across all ecosystem services, automatic Swagger documentation of secured endpoints.
SVN to Git/GitHub migration
Modern collaboration and branching. SVN did not support feature branches or code reviews before merge.
Progressive migration without production downtime, adoption of pull requests and systematic code reviews.
Client Projects
B2B sourcing platform for the promotional products industry. Product search engine, reseller frontend, supplier backend, extranet, REST API, export module, automated feeds and sync system. Millions of products indexed via Elasticsearch.
- Millions of products indexed in Elasticsearch
- Documented REST API (Swagger) with JWT RSA 4096-bit authentication
- Reseller frontend + supplier backend + extranet + translation module
- Automated supplier sync feeds via crontab
Full B2B marketplace built on Symfony 2.6, AngularJS and PostgreSQL. Modular architecture with CoreBundle (60+ Doctrine entities), ApiBundle (FOSRestBundle + JWT + Swagger/HATEOAS) and PostgreSearchBundle (native full-text search). Multi-locale, multi-currency support.
- 60+ Doctrine entities (Product, Supplier, Order, Brand, Category, Variant..)
- HATEOAS REST API with automatic Swagger documentation
- JWT RSA 4096-bit authentication
- Multi-bundle architecture reusable across projects
Custom client site generator (mini-sites/microsites) with domain name or subfolder customization. Centralized admin, multi-domain, integrated Solr engine, multilingual version (including meineasyweb.de for the German market).
Modular SaaS marketplace platform handling commissions, multi-vendor management and payments (Stripe/Mangopay). Internal product aimed at packaging Medialeads expertise into a turnkey B2B e-commerce solution.
Beyond the 4 main projects, Medialeads maintained an ecosystem of interconnected platforms for the promotional products industry.
B2B data and lead management platform
Product catalog export to PrestaShop (CSV + Web Services)
Marketplace for the gastronomy and food sector
News portal for promotional product trends
Promotional products portal
Corporate gifts platform
Platform for the professional printing sector
Automated offer system for resellers
All these projects share the same technical foundation: Symfony, Doctrine ORM, PostgreSQL, and reusable bundles (CoreBundle, ApiBundle, PostgreSearchBundle).
Day-to-day mentoring of junior and mid-level developers: systematic code reviews, pair programming, defining technical standards and naming conventions. Spreading Symfony best practices and PSR standards across the team. Close collaboration with the Project Manager for technical planning and effort estimation. Active participation in AFUP Bordeaux meetups to stay connected with PHP ecosystem developments.
- Systematic code reviews
Review of every pull request before merge, educational feedback to junior and mid-level developers.
- Pair programming
Regular sessions with juniors on complex parts: Doctrine architecture, Elasticsearch queries, REST API.
- Technical standards
Naming conventions, PSR standards, Symfony patterns (Repository, abstract Controller, Doctrine traits).
- AFUP Bordeaux
Regular attendance at French PHP User Association meetups to fuel technical watch and share insights with the team.
- Symfony training (October 2014)
3-day in-person Symfony 2 training covering framework fundamentals and best practices.
In an SMB, the Senior Full-Stack also handles digital marketing. SEO management and advertising campaigns for the platform ecosystem.
Google AdWords (SEA)
Creation and management of advertising campaigns for European Sourcing and client portals. Strategic keyword list management (promotional products, corporate gifts).
Organic SEO
On-page and technical optimization for all ecosystem platforms. Synonym and keyword variant management.
Universem agency (Belgium)
Collaboration with SEO agency Universem for backlink strategy and TendanceObjet.com ranking.
Google Analytics
Traffic performance tracking, conversion analysis and reporting to guide marketing and product decisions.
Backend
Databases
Search & Indexing
Frontend
API & Documentation
Infrastructure
- Package B2B marketplace expertise into reusable and modular solutions
- Migrate search infrastructure from Solr to Elasticsearch for millions of products
- Level up on REST API architectures and software architecture patterns
- Structure team practices: code reviews, documentation, technical standards
The startup/family SME environment gave me full autonomy and an end-to-end product vision. We built complete marketplaces from scratch, from backend architecture to SEO. Medialeads is where I gained my technical maturity: leading the migration from Solr to Elasticsearch for millions of products, designing REST APIs with JWT authentication, building multi-bundle architectures reusable across projects. The team was small (4-10 developers), which meant mastering the entire chain - Proxmox infrastructure, PostgreSQL database, Symfony backend, AngularJS frontend, SEO, deployments.
Regular participation in AFUP Bordeaux meetups (French PHP Users Association) enriched my practice and connected me to the local PHP community.
What I take away: the versatility forged in a small structure where every developer wears multiple hats is an asset that larger organizations cannot offer.
16 Technical Skill · 4 Soft Skill
Technical Skill
Fullstack Symfony 2/3 development of ERP, PIM, CRM, and Marketplace platforms. AngularJS frontend connected to REST APIs.
Reusable multi-bundle architecture across projects. CoreBundle, ApiBundle, PostgreSearchBundle.
Dedicated OVH server administration, Proxmox LXC virtualization, SVN-to-Git deployments.
Abstract Repository, Abstract Controller, Doctrine traits (CreatedUpdatedAt, SoftDeletable, Localized, Sortable).
REST APIs with FOSRestBundle + JWT RSA 4096-bit + Swagger/NelmioApiDoc + HATEOAS.
Applying GoF design patterns in Symfony architecture: Factory, Repository, Strategy.
JWT RSA 4096-bit authentication, REST API security hardening, access management.
PHPUnit unit tests, Symfony functional tests, systematic code review.
PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, Solr-to-Elasticsearch migration for millions of indexed products.
Proxmox LXC virtualization, container and environment management on dedicated servers.
Deployment scripts, crontab for automatic supplier feed synchronization.
Linux server administration (Debian), Apache/Nginx configuration, certificate management.
Monitoring Elasticsearch clusters and application performance.
Progressive SVN-to-Git/GitHub migration, deployments on OVH production servers.
Managing the internal DokuWiki technical wiki, documenting projects and procedures.
Attending AFUP Bordeaux meetups, monitoring the PHP/Symfony ecosystem.
Soft Skill
Mentoring junior and mid-level developers, code review, pair programming.
Collaboration with the Project Manager, defining the team's technical standards.
Ramping up on Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL, and AngularJS in a multi-project context.
Solr-to-Elasticsearch migration, solving large-scale performance issues.
My Easy Web - SaaS E-commerce Platform
Custom client site generator with multi-domain support
Supplier Back-Office - B2B Supplier Portal
AngularJS SPA for self-service supplier catalog management
Flux - Supplier Data Synchronization
ETL platform for supplier catalog import and synchronization
European Sourcing Import - Data Pipeline
Import system for millions of supplier products
B2B Product Data Export
Product catalog export platform to PrestaShop
Multilingual Translation Management Platform
Centralized back-office for .po/.mo file management in 7 languages
