Freelance Laravel Developer

I’m Dirk Menkveld, a freelance Laravel developer who builds backends that stay up. Not prototypes and not proof-of-concepts — Laravel APIs and platforms carrying real users, real money and real traffic spikes.

I also run the software I write. My own fantasy sports platform, Koppa, serves 150,000+ registered users across 15 countries on a Laravel API I built and maintain. That means I’ve felt every architectural shortcut I’ve ever taken, which tends to make the next decision better.

What I Build in Laravel

1. APIs Built to Be Consumed

• Versioned REST APIs (/api/v1/…) designed for mobile and web clients that ship on their own schedule.
• Token-based authentication, refresh flows, social login and role-based authorisation.
• Consistent resource serialisation, pagination and error contracts — so client developers stop guessing.
• OpenAPI documentation that matches what the code actually does.

2. Queues, Jobs and Scheduled Work

Most interesting Laravel work is not in the request cycle. I build:

• Queued jobs for anything slow: scoring runs, imports, notifications, exports.
• Artisan console commands and scheduled tasks for recurring domain work.
• Batching, retries, backoff and failure handling that doesn’t silently drop work.
• Redis-backed queues with Horizon for visibility into what’s actually running.

3. Data and Domain Modelling

• Eloquent models and relationships that reflect the domain instead of fighting it.
• Migrations designed for zero-downtime deploys — additive first, destructive later.
• Query optimisation, eager loading and indexing when the N+1 bill comes due.
• MySQL tuning, read replicas and caching strategies for read-heavy workloads.

4. Multi-Tenant and White-Label Platforms

Koppa ships the same platform to multiple clients under their own brand. That requires:

• Tenant isolation at the data and configuration layer.
• Per-tenant theming, domains, feature flags and content.
• A single codebase that can be deployed many times without forking.

5. Getting It to Production

I don’t hand over a repository and wish you luck. I run Laravel on Kubernetes (Google Cloud and AWS) with:

• Docker images built in GitLab CI/CD pipelines.
• Separate deployments for web, queue workers and schedulers.
• Health checks, autoscaling and rolling releases.
• Monitoring and error tracking with Sentry, Grafana and New Relic.

Why Hire a Laravel Developer Who Has Also Been the Product Owner

For fifteen years I’ve been the person deciding what gets built — as product owner and product manager at ID&T, ANWB, Essent, Coinmerce and Fox Sports.

That changes how I write code:

• I ask what the feature is for before I ask how to build it.
• I can tell you what a requirement will cost before you commit to it.
• I write tickets your other developers can actually pick up.
• I talk to stakeholders directly, so you don’t need a translator in the middle.

You’re not hiring a pair of hands. You’re hiring someone who will tell you when the thing you asked for is the wrong thing.

Typical Engagements

• Build a new Laravel API from an empty repository to production.
• Rescue an existing codebase — untangle it, test it, get deploys reliable again.
• Add a mobile backend to an existing web product.
• Move off a legacy PHP stack onto modern Laravel, incrementally, without a big-bang rewrite.
• Own a platform end to end — Laravel API, Vue or Flutter client, Kubernetes underneath.

Ready to Start?

Check my availability, browse the projects I’ve worked on, or just get in touch and tell me what’s broken.

FAQ

What Laravel version do you work with?

Current Laravel on PHP 8.x. I also work on older codebases and upgrade them — that’s a common reason people call me.

Do you only do backend work?

No. I’m a full-stack developer: Laravel and PHP on the backend, Vue and Tailwind on the web, Flutter for mobile. Owning the whole stack means the API is designed for the client that has to consume it.

Can you work with our existing team?

Yes, and that’s usually the best outcome. I can write code alongside your developers, review pull requests, set up CI/CD, and coach the team on the patterns I’m introducing so they own it after I leave.

Do you work remotely?

Yes. I’m based in the Netherlands and work remotely across Europe, with on-site days where they genuinely help — kick-offs, architecture sessions, quarterly planning.

What are your rates?

They depend on scope, duration and whether the engagement is pure engineering or includes product ownership. Contact me and I’ll give you a straight answer.