--- title: 'Software Engineer (Backend) at AppNation' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-backend-appnation-istanbul-q380gekfy4hm' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-28' --- # Software Engineer (Backend) at AppNation - **Company:** AppNation - **Location:** İstanbul, Turkey - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-10-16 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-28 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/appnation/090895b2-15dd-4c50-a3ff-a5f0362a3a76 ## Job description ## About AppNation We build AI-powered mobile apps that reach millions of users worldwide. Since 2021, AppNation has been creating products across AI, productivity, and mobile experiences. Our apps, including Genie, Translate AI, and Arch, have reached 100M+ users globally and ranked among the top apps in 30+ countries. We are a team of builders, designers, and engineers who move fast, take ownership, and create products used by millions. ## About the Role We’re looking for a Software Engineer (Backend) to build and improve the backend systems behind our AI-powered mobile apps. You’ll work on production services used by our mobile products, developing APIs, data flows, integrations, and AI-powered capabilities while learning to reason about reliability, scalability, and performance beyond just writing application code. This is a hands-on role where you’ll own features from implementation through testing and production, collaborate closely with experienced engineers, and continue developing your backend and system design skills. ## What You’ll Do - Design, build, and maintain backend services and APIs using Node.js and TypeScript. - Take ownership of backend features from implementation through testing, deployment, and production validation. - Build and maintain integrations with internal services, third-party APIs, and AI providers. - Develop AI-powered product capabilities and backend workflows that integrate with LLMs and AI services. - Design and maintain relational data models using PostgreSQL and MySQL. - Write efficient queries, create appropriate indexes, manage database migrations, and investigate database performance issues. - Use Redis for caching and other appropriate backend workloads. - Build reliable background jobs and asynchronous workflows and work with queue or messaging systems when needed. - Write and maintain unit and integration tests as a standard part of development. - Debug production issues using application logs, metrics, traces, and other available signals. - Build and run applications using Docker and develop an understanding of how services are deployed and operated in containerized environments. - Participate in code reviews, technical discussions, and design decisions. - Collaborate closely with mobile, AI, product, and infrastructure teams. - Use AI-assisted development tools effectively for coding, testing, debugging, research, and productivity while validating generated output and maintaining engineering quality. - Continuously improve the quality, maintainability, security, and performance of the systems you work on. ## What We’re Looking For - 3+ years of professional backend software development experience. - Strong hands-on experience with Node.js and TypeScript in production applications. - Solid understanding of backend fundamentals including HTTP, REST APIs, authentication, authorization, error handling, and application security. - Experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL, including data modeling, joins, indexes, transactions, migrations, and query optimization. - Practical experience with Redis and an understanding of common caching patterns. - Strong testing discipline and hands-on experience writing unit and integration tests. - Experience building maintainable, testable APIs and backend services. - Practical experience with Git, code review, and modern software development workflows. - Hands-on experience with Docker and containerized development environments. - Basic understanding of distributed systems concepts, asynchronous processing, concurrency, retries, timeouts, and failure handling. - Familiarity with CI/CD and production deployment workflows. - Experience building AI-powered features or integrating backend applications with LLMs, AI APIs, or AI services. - Comfortable using modern AI-assisted development tools while understanding that generated code must still be reviewed, tested, and technically understood. - Ability to investigate production issues instead of treating deployment as the end of the development lifecycle. - Strong problem-solving skills, ownership, curiosity, and clear communication. - Familiarity with Kafka, RabbitMQ, Pub/Sub, BullMQ, or another messaging or queueing technology. - Familiarity with Go, Ruby, Elixir or another functional programming language. - Familiarity with NoSQL databases such as MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, or similar technologies. - Familiarity with Kubernetes and container orchestration concepts. - Familiarity with Google Cloud Platform or another major cloud platform. Why AppNation? - Build and scale products reaching millions of users globally. - Work with talented people in a fast-moving AI-first environment. - Take ownership and see your impact directly in the products you build. - Grow quickly with opportunities to lead projects and shape technical decisions. - Enjoy competitive compensation and benefits, including private health insurance, meal and commute support, relocation support, and flexible working options. Our Hiring Process Application Review → Interview → Technical Assessment → Final Interviews At AppNation, we set ambitious goals and challenge ourselves to build products that reach millions of people. We value curiosity, ownership, and continuous growth. If this role excites you and you're ready to make an impact, we'd love to hear from you. Apply now, we're excited to meet you! ## About AppNation ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: AppNation is a mobile app publisher that creates category‑leading AI‑powered apps, making advanced AI technology easy to use and accessible for everyone. - **Entity Type**: Private (funding stage not publicly available) - **Headquarters**: Şişli, İstanbul, Turkey - **Founded**: 2021 - **Founders**: Yalçın Özdemir (CEO), İbrahim Karahan (CTO), Saffet Arslan (CDO), Mustafa Ayten (COO) ## Core Business - **Primary industries**: Mobile application development, artificial intelligence, consumer software - **Target customers**: B2C – everyday consumers looking for AI‑powered photo/video editing, chatbot assistance, and home design tools - **Mission**: To bring cutting‑edge, AI‑driven technology into the hands of everyday people, unlocking endless possibilities [appnation.co](https://www.appnation.co/) ## Products & Services - **[Genie](https://www.appnation.co/)**: AI chatbot app that offers access to multiple large language models (ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini, Grok) in a single interface – over 15 million downloads. - **[Fotorama](https://www.appnation.co/)**: AI‑powered photo and video generation app, recognized as a Top 10 AI Photo App worldwide in the Rise of AI Apps Report 2025 by AppFigures. - **[Arch](https://www.appnation.co/)**: AI‑powered home design tool that reached over 5 million downloads and ranked #1 design tool in more than 30 countries. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not publicly available - **Key Metric**: Total app portfolio exceeds 40 apps; cumulative user base includes over 15 million downloads for Genie, 5 million for Arch, and millions of AI predictions/tokens processed daily [appnation.co](https://www.appnation.co/) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly available - **Growth Signals**: Headcount expanded to 60+ team members (currently 69 total employees per Built In); consistent new app launches and feature updates (e.g., integrating DeepSeek into Genie in early 2025) [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/appnation) ## Competitive Advantages - **Platform approach**: Standardized app‑development platform that enables rapid prototyping and publishing of multiple AI‑driven apps. - **Multi‑model integration**: Genie aggregates five leading AI models, offering users a one‑stop chatbot experience. - **Category leadership**: Multiple apps rank among the top in their respective App Store categories (photo, design, AI assistant). ## Strategic Focus - Continue creating category‑defining AI mobile apps and expanding the technology platform that powers them. - Deepen integration of emerging AI models (e.g., DeepSeek) and strengthen the existing portfolio’s market position. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Described as a forward‑thinking, innovative team that constantly challenges itself and the limits of technology [appnation.co](https://www.appnation.co/careers). - **Work model**: Hybrid – open positions in İstanbul are listed as “Hybrid — Full‑time” on Lever; company also offers optional work‑from‑home days [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/appnation) [appnation.co](https://www.appnation.co/careers). - **Perks**: Competitive compensation, private health insurance, access to learning platforms, and a supportive work environment with “better‑than‑average” benefits [appnation.co](https://www.appnation.co/careers). ## Sources 1. [appnation.co](https://www.appnation.co/) – Company homepage with product details and latest updates 2. [appnation.co](https://www.appnation.co/about) – About page with founding story, founders, and timeline 3. [appnation.co](https://www.appnation.co/careers) – Careers page with perks and open positions 4. [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/appnation) – Active job listings showing hybrid roles 5. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/appnation) – Company profile with employee count, office location, and culture summary ## Other roles at AppNation - [Senior Software Engineer (Backend)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-backend-appnation-istanbul-yawyky7q1x4a) — İstanbul, Turkey - [Senior DevOps Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-devops-engineer-appnation-istanbul-c19ezy74d1db) — İstanbul, Turkey - [Senior IT Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-it-specialist-appnation-istanbul-7pr7wmz7e9ak) — İstanbul, Turkey - [Brand Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/brand-manager-appnation-istanbul-avvermpr7vcd) — İstanbul, Turkey - [Senior ASO & ASA Manager / Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-aso-asa-manager-platform-appnation-istanbul-bwgv7vq067bw) — İstanbul, Turkey - [Marketing Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/marketing-manager-appnation-istanbul-kf8zw317tjdy) — İstanbul, Turkey - [Legal & Compliance Counsel](https://feeny.ai/job/legal-compliance-counsel-appnation-istanbul-k4h1xytv0dqs) — İstanbul, Turkey - [Senior Android Developer / Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-android-developer-platform-appnation-istanbul-htqest900ba4) — İstanbul, Turkey - [Senior iOS Developer / Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-ios-developer-platform-appnation-istanbul-xe8xwgkehaga) — İstanbul, Turkey - [QA Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/qa-engineer-appnation-istanbul-gxk3jf5q0d1g) — İstanbul, Turkey