BigSoccer is North America's #1 soccer community. Profitable for several years, we are looking to expand internationally in anticipation of the 2010 World Cup, and are continuing the development of our platform, with focus on Web 2.0 tools, blogging tools, and gaming engines for sports predictions. BigSoccer is looking for a talented LAMP developer to contribute to the future development and expansion of our online consumer offerings. If you are in the Bay Area looking for an exciting growth opportunity in a startup environment, keep on reading. You can work in San Francisco SOMA and/or Palo Alto. Responsibilities: * Use your strong technical skills to create great products * Design and build products that delight our users * Facilitate technical communication between internal teams, partner sites, and ad networks * Write specs, prioritize features, and code * Influence the experience of hundred of thousands of soccer fans around the world * Identify performance bottlenecks in PHP applications * Provide code optimization recommendations * Rapidly prototype new features and implement optimization techniques * Benchmark existing code and enhancements * Participate in design and code reviews * Expertise in working with PHP and MySQL * Proficiency with front-end scripting including: HTML, DHTML, JavaScript, CSS, AJAX * Identify and communicate best practices Requirements: * BA/BS in Computer Science or a related technical field * Intimate understanding of LAMP * Understanding of business issues * Solid written and oral communication skills, organizational and analytical skills * Exceptional technical abilities * A passion for performance debugging and benchmarking, knowledge of PHP and system profiling tools * Experience building PHP applications and frameworks * Knowledge of PHP internals and Apache architecture * Experience working with Apache/PHP/MySQL in high-performance environments * Rapid learner who is comfortable in unstructured environment and can work independently with limited supervision * Ability to see "beyond the code" and bring input to product direction * Soccer fan and BigSoccer.com addict a plus. Location: San Francisco or Palo Alto, CA Contract or Full Time work available.