Individual/Team for backend upgrade | Angular, Laravel, Docker, Kubernetes/ECS

We’re seeking an experienced DevOps/Full-Stack Engineer to help modernize and automate our cannabis retail point-of-sale (POS) and click-and-collect platform, launching May 24th. This is an opportunity to work with a solo founder who has built a promising platform that’s now ready for professional stabilization and scaling.

RetailOS (name TBD) is a PaaS/SaaS solution for cannabis retailers. We have a pipeline of cannabis and liquor stores ready for pilot use, and we need to upgrade our tech stack to ensure a successful launch.

Current Tech Stack

Frontend: Angular 9 (to be upgraded to 16+), Angular Material, npm/Yarn

Backend: PHP 8.x, Laravel 5.x (to be upgraded to 10 LTS), Composer

CI/CD & Infrastructure: GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes/ECS (in planning), Blue-Green deployments via Envoyer

Monitoring & Reporting: Sentry (JS/PHP error tracking), New Relic/APM, Google Analytics / custom telemetry

Version Control: GitHub, Pull Requests, Dependabot security updates

Key Responsibilities

CI/CD Pipeline Implementation (Priority #1)Set up a fully automated pipeline for lint, test, build, Docker-push, and canary deployment

Implement zero-downtime deployments with proper rollback capabilities

Integrate Terraform for infrastructure as code

Dependency & Security Management (Priority #2)

Configure Dependabot/Renovate for automated dependency updates

Implement security scanning and vulnerability testing

Set up automated merge of patch updates with CI verification

Framework UpgradesGuide the upgrade from Angular 9 to 16+ and Laravel 5.x to 10

Implement proper testing to ensure stability during upgrades

Code Quality & TestingImplement ESLint + Prettier for JS/TS and PHP-CS-Fixer for PHP

Set up comprehensive testing (unit, integration, E2E) with proper CI integration

Configure Cypress or Playwright for automated smoke tests

Build & Deployment AutomationContainerize the application properly with Docker

Implement blue-green/canary deployment strategies

Configure proper monitoring and alerting

Requirements

Strong experience with DevOps practices and modern CI/CD pipelines

Experience with Angular (9+) and Laravel frameworks

Proficiency with Docker, Kubernetes/ECS, and container orchestration

Knowledge of GitHub Actions or similar CI tools

Understanding of infrastructure as code (preferably Terraform)

Experience with automated testing frameworks

Security-focused mindset for handling sensitive retail/cannabis data
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Project price is negotiable