Backend Development
PHP, object-oriented programming, application architecture, database-driven systems and business logic.
Web Development · Backend · Production Systems
Ahmad Hejazee
Senior Web / PHP Developer
Software developer with 17+ years of hands-on experience building and maintaining production web applications, with a strong focus on PHP, Drupal, backend development, Linux, APIs, integrations, migrations and performance.
Profile
Experienced in the parts of web development that keep real systems running.
My professional work is centered on long-lived web applications and backend systems, particularly in PHP and Drupal. I have worked across the lifecycle of production software: architecture, custom development, third-party integrations, migrations, performance optimization, Linux infrastructure and ongoing maintenance.
A large part of my experience comes from independently solving practical engineering problems in existing systems: understanding unfamiliar codebases, extending legacy applications, modernizing older platforms, connecting external services and improving reliability and performance without unnecessary rewrites.
I also have practical experience teaching programming and creating technical educational content, but teaching is a complementary part of my professional background rather than its primary focus.
Professional focus
What I work on
The areas below represent the strongest and most consistent parts of my professional experience.
Drupal Development
Custom modules and themes, migrations, integrations, upgrades, maintenance and long-running Drupal systems.
Linux & Infrastructure
Linux environments, web servers, PHP-FPM, Docker, deployment tooling, troubleshooting and production maintenance.
APIs & Integrations
REST, JSON, authentication, external services, payment systems and communication between independent applications.
Performance & Modernization
Caching, database and query optimization, API redesign, legacy-system improvement and practical migration strategies.
Web Technologies
JavaScript, jQuery, HTML, CSS and browser-side functionality as part of full web applications.
Career
Professional experience
Senior Web / PHP Developer
- Primary developer and technical decision-maker for a production web platform used by a large user base.
- Designed and developed custom Drupal architecture, modules, themes, e-commerce functionality, user portals and business workflows.
- Built substantial JavaScript/jQuery functionality and REST/AJAX integrations.
- Designed and maintained integrations between the main application and external business systems through APIs and custom authentication.
- Worked with Linux production environments, Docker, Nginx/Apache, PHP-FPM, Git-based workflows, DNS and security maintenance.
- Used Composer, Drush and Drupal configuration management as part of development and maintenance workflows.
- Improved performance through caching, database optimization, Redis and API redesign; selected operations were reduced from tens of minutes to seconds.
- Worked on Drupal migrations and upgrades across multiple major Drupal generations.
Drupal Developer
- Developed and maintained a long-running Drupal platform through several major versions.
- Implemented custom functionality, maintenance, modernization and migration work.
- Worked with both dynamic web applications and static-site generation as part of platform modernization.
Earlier Web & Drupal Development
- Developed Drupal modules, themes and custom functionality for multiple web projects.
- Built and maintained e-commerce and content-management systems.
- Provided ongoing development, troubleshooting, customization and maintenance for production websites.
Technology
Core technical skills
Backend & Application Development
PHP · Object-Oriented Programming · Drupal 6–11 · MySQL · Composer · Drush · Application Architecture · Migration
APIs & Integrations
REST · Web Services · JSON · Authentication · External Service Integration · Payment Integration
Linux & Production
Linux · Ubuntu · Nginx · Apache · PHP-FPM · Git · Bash · Docker · Docker Compose
Frontend & Web UI
JavaScript · jQuery · HTML5 · CSS3 · AJAX · Client-Side Validation · Interactive UI Development
Other Web Platforms
WordPress · Hugo · DDEV
Development Practices
Legacy-system maintenance · Refactoring · Troubleshooting · Performance optimization · Version control · Technical documentation
Selected work
Examples of practical engineering work
Project descriptions are intentionally generalized to avoid exposing client identities, internal architecture or operational details.
Large-Scale Product Data Synchronization
PHP · Drupal · HTTP clients · Browser automation · Structured data
- Designed a reusable system for collecting and synchronizing product information from many external sources.
- Progressively optimized data extraction from browser automation toward direct HTTP requests, selectors and structured APIs where appropriate.
Real-Time Communication Integration
Drupal · JavaScript · XMPP · Authentication
- Integrated a web-based real-time communication system with an existing web application.
- Implemented automatic authentication and server-side integration across application boundaries.
Online Booking & Virtual Meeting Platform
Web application · Payments · Scheduling · External APIs
- Developed booking, scheduling, online payment and automatic virtual-meeting workflows.
- Handled non-trivial calendar, timezone and localization requirements.
Open source & community
Contributing to the developer community
- Created and maintained open-source extensions and integrations for the Drupal ecosystem.
- Contributed patches and fixes to several open-source Drupal projects and made smaller contributions to Drupal core.
- Long-term contributor to the Persian Drupal translation community, including review and maintenance responsibilities.
- Created public programming and web-development tutorials and technical demonstrations.
- Practical teaching experience includes PHP, Linux, web technologies and Drupal.
Background
Education & languages
M.Sc. in Software Engineering
2015–2017
B.Sc. in Software Engineering
2010–2014
Linux Professional Training
LPIC-1 training · ~2014
Languages
Persian — Native · English — Strong technical reading / Intermediate written communication · French — Basic (A2)