AWS / Laravel Scalability Architect (Review, Design, Implementation + Mentoring)

We are looking for a senior AWS scalability architect / DevOps engineer with strong Laravel/PHP production experience to review and improve the scalability, reliability, and performance of an existing system.   This is not just a “set up servers” role. We need someone who can:   1. Review the current architecture and identify bottlenecks 2. Recommend practical improvements for horizontal scaling and operational stability 3. Implement improvements if needed 4. Mentor and guide our engineering team through the architecture and decisions 5. Provide clear documentation so the system can be maintained internally long-term   Our preference is practical, production-grade engineering over theoretical advice.   Current Stack   Backend:   - PHP / Laravel   Infrastructure:   - AWS EC2 - RDS (database) - ElastiCache (Redis) - DocumentDB (NoSQL)   Current challenge:   - Application currently requires manual tuning when scaling EC2 vertically (Apache/PHP-FPM/FastCGI settings, request handling, concurrency limits, etc.) - We want to move toward a more resilient, horizontally scalable architecture with minimal manual intervention.   Goals   We want expert guidance to help us move toward a production-grade scalable system that can handle traffic growth cleanly.   Expected outcomes may include (depending on findings):   - Architecture review and bottleneck analysis - Performance assessment of Laravel stack - Horizontal scaling strategy for Laravel application servers - Auto Scaling Group design - Load balancer strategy (ALB/Nginx/Apache recommendations) - Stateless Laravel deployment approach - Queue scaling recommendations - PHP-FPM/Apache optimization strategy - Session/cache strategy using Redis - Deployment architecture recommendations - Health checks, monitoring, alerting, logging recommendations - Scaling strategy for background workers/queues - Infrastructure hardening and resiliency improvements - Cost-aware scaling recommendations - Documentation and operational runbooks   Deliverables   We are open to one of two engagement models:   Option 1 — Review + Mentoring   - Review existing architecture - Identify bottlenecks and risks - Produce prioritized recommendations - Mentor/guide us while we implement improvements - Review implementation and validate approach   Option 2 — Design + Implementation   - Design improved architecture - Implement horizontal scaling and automation - Configure infrastructure and deployment approach - Create clear documentation - Knowledge transfer / mentoring sessions so we can maintain independently   Required Experience   Must have strong experience with:   - AWS infrastructure for high-traffic production systems - Laravel / PHP production scaling - Auto Scaling Groups - Load balancers (ALB/NLB) - Redis / caching strategies - RDS optimization awareness - Linux performance tuning - CI/CD and deployment workflows - Observability (logs, metrics, monitoring)   Nice to have:   - Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/CloudFormation) - Docker / containerization - Laravel Horizon / queue scaling - High-availability system design   What Success Looks Like   At the end of this project, we want:   - A scalable and documented architecture - Reduced manual scaling work - Clear operational guidance - Understanding of why decisions were made - Ability for our team to maintain the system independently   To Apply   Please include:   1. Similar Laravel/AWS scaling projects you have worked on 2. Your approach to scaling a Laravel system horizontally 3. Whether you recommend review/mentoring first or direct implementation, and why 4. Your experience with production traffic scaling and bottleneck analysis