diff --git a/apps/worker/package.json b/apps/worker/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e756df6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{
+  "name": "@cv/worker",
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "private": true,
+  "type": "commonjs",
+  "scripts": {
+    "build": "tsc -p tsconfig.build.json",
+    "start": "node dist/main.js project-q:work async",
+    "dev": "nodemon --watch src -e ts --exec \"ts-node src/main.ts project-q:work async\"",
+    "typecheck": "tsc -p tsconfig.build.json --noEmit",
+    "lint": "biome check .",
+    "lint:fix": "biome check --write ."
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@cv/system": "*",
+    "@nestjs/common": "^10.4.7",
+    "@nestjs/config": "^3.2.0",
+    "@nestjs/core": "^10.4.7",
+    "@riotbyte/project-q-core": "link:/Users/niels/Developer/riotbyte/project-q/packages/core",
+    "@riotbyte/project-q-nestjs": "link:/Users/niels/Developer/riotbyte/project-q/packages/framework/nest",
+    "@riotbyte/project-q-prisma": "link:/Users/niels/Developer/riotbyte/project-q/packages/transport/prisma",
+    "@riotbyte/nest-service-locator": "link:/Users/niels/Developer/riotbyte/nest-service-locator",
+    "@nestjs/event-emitter": "^3.0.1",
+    "nest-commander": "^3.16.0",
+    "eventemitter2": "^6.4.9",
+    "zod": "^4.3.6",
+    "playwright": "^1.52.0",
+    "playwright-core": "^1.52.0",
+    "reflect-metadata": "^0.2.2",
+    "rxjs": "^7.8.1"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@cv/tsconfig": "*",
+    "@types/node": "^22.7.5",
+    "nodemon": "^3.1.7",
+    "ts-node": "^10.9.2",
+    "typescript": "^5.6.3"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/config.ts b/apps/worker/src/config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3730286
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+const requireEnv = (key: string): string => {
+  const value = process.env[key];
+  if (!value) {
+    throw new Error(`Missing required env var: ${key}`);
+  }
+  return value;
+};
+
+export type WorkerConfig = typeof config;
+
+export const config = {
+  get databaseUrl() {
+    return requireEnv("DATABASE_URL");
+  },
+  queueSchema: process.env["QUEUE_SCHEMA"] ?? "queue",
+  queueName: process.env["QUEUE_NAME"] ?? "default",
+  pollIntervalMs: Number(process.env["POLL_INTERVAL_MS"] ?? "1000"),
+  pdfOutputDir: process.env["PDF_OUTPUT_DIR"] ?? "./pdf-output",
+  pdfTimeoutMs: Number(process.env["PDF_TIMEOUT_MS"] ?? "30000"),
+  heartbeatFilePath:
+    process.env["HEARTBEAT_FILE_PATH"] ?? "/tmp/worker-heartbeat",
+  heartbeatDbIntervalMs: Number(process.env["HEARTBEAT_DB_INTERVAL_MS"] ?? "0"),
+} as const;
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/handlers/render-pdf.handler.ts b/apps/worker/src/handlers/render-pdf.handler.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4257acc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/handlers/render-pdf.handler.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import * as fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import * as path from "node:path";
+import { Inject, Injectable, Logger } from "@nestjs/common";
+import type { Envelope, Handler } from "@riotbyte/project-q-core";
+import { HandlerTag } from "@riotbyte/project-q-nestjs";
+import type { WorkerConfig } from "../config";
+import { HtmlToPdfService } from "../pdf/html-to-pdf.service";
+import { WORKER_CONFIG } from "../worker.module";
+
+type RenderPdfData = {
+  cvId: string;
+  html: string;
+  requestedBy: string;
+};
+
+@Injectable()
+@HandlerTag.decorator({ handles: "render-pdf" })
+export class RenderPdfHandler implements Handler {
+  private readonly logger = new Logger(RenderPdfHandler.name);
+
+  constructor(
+    private readonly pdfService: HtmlToPdfService,
+    @Inject(WORKER_CONFIG) private readonly config: WorkerConfig,
+  ) {}
+
+  async handle(envelope: Envelope): Promise<void> {
+    const { cvId, html, requestedBy } = envelope.message.data as RenderPdfData;
+
+    this.logger.log(
+      `Rendering PDF for CV ${cvId} (requested by ${requestedBy})`,
+    );
+
+    const pdf = await this.pdfService.convert(html, this.config.pdfTimeoutMs);
+
+    await fs.mkdir(this.config.pdfOutputDir, { recursive: true });
+    const outputPath = path.join(this.config.pdfOutputDir, `${cvId}.pdf`);
+    await fs.writeFile(outputPath, pdf);
+
+    this.logger.log(`PDF written to ${outputPath} (${pdf.length} bytes)`);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/db-heartbeat.strategy.ts b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/db-heartbeat.strategy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52bced7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/db-heartbeat.strategy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import pg from "pg";
+import type { HeartbeatStrategy } from "./heartbeat.strategy";
+
+/** Writes periodic heartbeats to a Postgres table for distributed monitoring. */
+export class DbHeartbeatStrategy implements HeartbeatStrategy {
+  private pool: pg.Pool | null = null;
+  private workerId: string | null = null;
+  private lastWriteAt = 0;
+
+  constructor(
+    private readonly databaseUrl: string,
+    private readonly intervalMs: number,
+  ) {}
+
+  async onStart(workerId: string): Promise<void> {
+    this.pool = new pg.Pool({ connectionString: this.databaseUrl });
+    this.workerId = workerId;
+  }
+
+  async onRunning(): Promise<void> {
+    if (!(this.pool && this.workerId)) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const now = Date.now();
+    if (now - this.lastWriteAt < this.intervalMs) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    this.lastWriteAt = now;
+
+    await this.pool.query(
+      `INSERT INTO queue.worker_heartbeats (worker_id, last_seen_at)
+       VALUES ($1, now())
+       ON CONFLICT (worker_id)
+       DO UPDATE SET last_seen_at = now()`,
+      [this.workerId],
+    );
+  }
+
+  async onStop(): Promise<void> {
+    if (!this.pool) {
+      return;
+    }
+    await this.pool.end();
+    this.pool = null;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/file-heartbeat.strategy.ts b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/file-heartbeat.strategy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a762534
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/file-heartbeat.strategy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import * as fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import type { HeartbeatStrategy } from "./heartbeat.strategy";
+
+/** Touches a file on each heartbeat tick for Docker/orchestrator health checks. */
+export class FileHeartbeatStrategy implements HeartbeatStrategy {
+  constructor(private readonly filePath: string) {}
+
+  async onStart(): Promise<void> {
+    await fs.writeFile(this.filePath, "");
+  }
+
+  async onRunning(): Promise<void> {
+    const now = new Date();
+    await fs.utimes(this.filePath, now, now);
+  }
+
+  async onStop(): Promise<void> {}
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.listener.ts b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.listener.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9764105
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.listener.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { Inject, Injectable, type OnModuleInit } from "@nestjs/common";
+import {
+  WorkerRunningEvent,
+  WorkerStartedEvent,
+  WorkerStoppedEvent,
+} from "@riotbyte/project-q-core";
+import { EventEmitter2 } from "eventemitter2";
+import type { HeartbeatStrategy } from "./heartbeat.strategy";
+import { HEARTBEAT_STRATEGIES } from "./heartbeat.strategy";
+
+@Injectable()
+export class HeartbeatListener implements OnModuleInit {
+  constructor(
+    private readonly emitter: EventEmitter2,
+    @Inject(HEARTBEAT_STRATEGIES)
+    private readonly strategies: HeartbeatStrategy[],
+  ) {}
+
+  onModuleInit(): void {
+    this.emitter.on(WorkerStartedEvent.name, async (event: WorkerStartedEvent) => {
+      await Promise.all(this.strategies.map((s) => s.onStart(event.worker.id)));
+    });
+
+    this.emitter.on(WorkerRunningEvent.name, async () => {
+      await Promise.all(this.strategies.map((s) => s.onRunning()));
+    });
+
+    this.emitter.on(WorkerStoppedEvent.name, async () => {
+      await Promise.all(this.strategies.map((s) => s.onStop()));
+    });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.module.ts b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.module.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8049258
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.module.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import type { DynamicModule } from "@nestjs/common";
+import { Module } from "@nestjs/common";
+import type { WorkerConfig } from "../config";
+import { DbHeartbeatStrategy } from "./db-heartbeat.strategy";
+import { FileHeartbeatStrategy } from "./file-heartbeat.strategy";
+import { HeartbeatListener } from "./heartbeat.listener";
+import type { HeartbeatStrategy } from "./heartbeat.strategy";
+import { HEARTBEAT_STRATEGIES } from "./heartbeat.strategy";
+
+@Module({})
+export class HeartbeatModule {
+  static register(config: WorkerConfig): DynamicModule {
+    const strategies: HeartbeatStrategy[] = [];
+
+    if (config.heartbeatFilePath) {
+      strategies.push(new FileHeartbeatStrategy(config.heartbeatFilePath));
+    }
+
+    if (config.heartbeatDbIntervalMs > 0) {
+      strategies.push(
+        new DbHeartbeatStrategy(
+          config.databaseUrl,
+          config.heartbeatDbIntervalMs,
+        ),
+      );
+    }
+
+    return {
+      module: HeartbeatModule,
+      providers: [
+        { provide: HEARTBEAT_STRATEGIES, useValue: strategies },
+        HeartbeatListener,
+      ],
+      exports: [HEARTBEAT_STRATEGIES],
+    };
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.strategy.ts b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.strategy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..afb5416
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/heartbeat/heartbeat.strategy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export const HEARTBEAT_STRATEGIES = Symbol("HEARTBEAT_STRATEGIES");
+
+/** Lifecycle-aware heartbeat strategy for worker health monitoring. */
+export interface HeartbeatStrategy {
+  onStart(workerId: string): Promise<void>;
+  onRunning(): Promise<void>;
+  onStop(): Promise<void>;
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/logger.provider.ts b/apps/worker/src/logger.provider.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58a7e1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/logger.provider.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { Logger as NestLogger } from "@nestjs/common";
+import type { Logger } from "@riotbyte/project-q-core";
+
+export class NestProjectQLogger implements Logger {
+  private readonly logger = new NestLogger("ProjectQ");
+
+  info(message: string): void {
+    this.logger.log(message);
+  }
+
+  error(message: string): void {
+    this.logger.error(message);
+  }
+
+  debug(message: string): void {
+    this.logger.debug(message);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/main.ts b/apps/worker/src/main.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3dc26f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/main.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import "reflect-metadata";
+import { Logger } from "@nestjs/common";
+import { CommandFactory } from "nest-commander";
+import { WorkerModule } from "./worker.module";
+
+const logger = new Logger("Bootstrap");
+
+async function bootstrap(): Promise<void> {
+  await CommandFactory.run(WorkerModule, {
+    logger: ["log", "error", "warn", "debug"],
+    cliName: "worker",
+  });
+}
+
+bootstrap().catch((error) => {
+  logger.error("Worker crashed", error);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/pdf/html-to-pdf.service.ts b/apps/worker/src/pdf/html-to-pdf.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ace953
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/pdf/html-to-pdf.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { Injectable, Logger, OnModuleDestroy } from "@nestjs/common";
+import { chromium } from "playwright";
+import type { Browser } from "playwright-core";
+
+/** Manages a Playwright browser singleton for HTML-to-PDF conversion. */
+@Injectable()
+export class HtmlToPdfService implements OnModuleDestroy {
+  private readonly logger = new Logger(HtmlToPdfService.name);
+  private browser: Browser | null = null;
+
+  private async ensureBrowser(): Promise<Browser> {
+    if (this.browser) {
+      return this.browser;
+    }
+
+    this.logger.log("Launching Chromium");
+    this.browser = await chromium.launch({
+      args: ["--no-sandbox", "--disable-dev-shm-usage"],
+    });
+
+    return this.browser;
+  }
+
+  /** Renders HTML to an A4 PDF buffer. */
+  async convert(html: string, timeoutMs = 30_000): Promise<Buffer> {
+    const browser = await this.ensureBrowser();
+    const page = await browser.newPage();
+    page.setDefaultTimeout(timeoutMs);
+
+    try {
+      await page.setContent(html, {
+        waitUntil: "networkidle",
+        timeout: timeoutMs,
+      });
+
+      return await page.pdf({ format: "A4", printBackground: true });
+    } finally {
+      await page.close();
+    }
+  }
+
+  async onModuleDestroy(): Promise<void> {
+    if (!this.browser) {
+      return;
+    }
+    this.logger.log("Closing Chromium");
+    await this.browser.close();
+    this.browser = null;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/src/worker.module.ts b/apps/worker/src/worker.module.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a306b93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/src/worker.module.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { Module } from "@nestjs/common";
+import { ConfigModule } from "@nestjs/config";
+import { EventEmitterModule } from "@nestjs/event-emitter";
+import { DatabaseModule, PrismaService } from "@cv/system";
+import { LoggerProvider, MessengerModule } from "@riotbyte/project-q-nestjs";
+import { PrismaClientToken, PrismaTransportFactory } from "@riotbyte/project-q-prisma";
+import type { WorkerConfig } from "./config";
+import { config } from "./config";
+import { RenderPdfHandler } from "./handlers/render-pdf.handler";
+import { HeartbeatModule } from "./heartbeat/heartbeat.module";
+import { NestProjectQLogger } from "./logger.provider";
+import { HtmlToPdfService } from "./pdf/html-to-pdf.service";
+
+export const WORKER_CONFIG = Symbol("WORKER_CONFIG");
+
+@Module({
+  imports: [
+    ConfigModule.forRoot({
+      isGlobal: true,
+      load: [() => ({ DATABASE_URL: config.databaseUrl })],
+    }),
+    DatabaseModule,
+    EventEmitterModule.forRoot(),
+    HeartbeatModule.register(config),
+    MessengerModule.forRoot({
+      transports: {
+        async: { dsn: `prisma://?queue=${config.queueName}`, retry: true },
+      },
+      routing: new Map<string, "async">([["render-pdf", "async"]]),
+    }),
+  ],
+  providers: [
+    { provide: WORKER_CONFIG, useValue: config satisfies WorkerConfig },
+    { provide: PrismaClientToken, useExisting: PrismaService },
+    { provide: LoggerProvider, useClass: NestProjectQLogger },
+    PrismaTransportFactory,
+    RenderPdfHandler,
+    HtmlToPdfService,
+  ],
+})
+export class WorkerModule {}
diff --git a/apps/worker/tsconfig.build.json b/apps/worker/tsconfig.build.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af81f49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/tsconfig.build.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "extends": "./tsconfig.json",
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "declaration": false,
+    "sourceMap": true
+  },
+  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist"]
+}
diff --git a/apps/worker/tsconfig.json b/apps/worker/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..33d1d3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/worker/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "extends": "../../packages/tsconfig/tsconfig.node.json",
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "outDir": "dist",
+    "preserveSymlinks": true,
+    "types": ["node"]
+  },
+  "include": ["src/**/*.ts"],
+  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist"]
+}
diff --git a/biome.json b/biome.json
index adcff73..b315c11 100644
--- a/biome.json
+++ b/biome.json
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
     {
       "includes": [
         "apps/server/**/*",
+        "apps/worker/**/*",
         "packages/auth/**/*",
         "packages/system/**/*",
         "packages/ai-parser/**/*",