Senior Backend Developer

A BIT ABOUT US

Appknox is one of the top Mobile Application security companies recognized by Gartner and G2. A profitable B2B SaaS startup headquartered in Singapore & working from Bengaluru.

The primary goal of Appknox is to help businesses and mobile developers secure their mobile applications with a focus on delivery speed and high-quality security audits.

Our business includes Fortune 500 companies with Major brands spread across regions like India, South-East Asia, Middle-East, Japan, US, and expanding rapidly. 

The Opportunity:

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Software Engineer (Backend) to join our dynamic software development team. In this role, you will contribute to key backend projects, collaborate across teams, and play a vital part in delivering robust, scalable, and high-performance software solutions. As a senior engineer, you will work independently, make impactful technical decisions, and help shape the backend architecture while collaborating with a passionate, high-performing team.

You will work hands-on with products primarily built in Python, with opportunities to contribute to Golang and Rust. These technologies are at the core of our development stack, and your focus will be on building, scaling, and maintaining distributed services. Distributed systems are integral to our architecture, providing a chance to gain hands-on experience with maintaining and optimizing them in a fast-paced environment.

As a senior engineer, you are expected to:

• Write clean, maintainable, and testable code while following best practices.
• Architect solutions, address complex problems, and deliver well-thought-out technical designs.
• Take ownership of assigned modules and features, delivering them with minimal supervision.
• Contribute to code reviews and technical discussions, ensuring high-quality deliverables.

We highly value open source contributions and encourage you to check out our work on GitHub at Appknox GitHub. While no prior experience in security is required, our experienced security professionals are available to support you in understanding the domain.

This role offers a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology, drive impactful solutions, and grow within a collaborative environment that values autonomy, innovation, and technical excellence.

Responsibilities:

• Drive backend development for a disruptive product in the Security domain, focusing on innovation, performance, scalability, and maintainability.
• Take ownership of the software design process, including designing workflows, system architecture, and implementation plans.
• Translate functional and technical requirements into detailed architecture and design, making independent decisions to ensure efficiency and scalability.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including frontend and security teams, to deliver cohesive and high-quality solutions.
• Conduct thorough code reviews to ensure adherence to best practices, maintainability, and coding standards.
• Write clean, maintainable, and testable code using Django and Python, adhering to industry best practices.
• Design and implement scalable software components, frameworks, and APIs using Django and Django REST Framework (DRF).
• Troubleshoot, debug, and optimize existing systems to improve functionality and performance.
• Create detailed technical documentation, including flowcharts, layouts, and system requirements, to ensure clarity and alignment.
• Develop and enforce robust software verification plans, quality assurance procedures, and deployment strategies.
• Ensure timely delivery of software updates while addressing user feedback to enhance solutions.
• Provide technical expertise to solve backend challenges and participate in critical decision-making processes.
• Support team growth by sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration, and mentoring junior engineers informally as needed.

Requirements:

• 4–6 years of professional experience in backend development with a strong focus on Django and Python.
• Proficiency in Django REST Framework (DRF), relational databases, SQL, and ORMs (e.g., Django ORM, SQLAlchemy).
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to make independent technical decisions regarding system design and implementation.
• Hands-on experience in designing and developing scalable, maintainable, and high-performing backend systems.
• Deep understanding of software engineering practices, including Test-Driven Development (TDD), CI/CD pipelines, and deployment processes.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to document and present technical specifications and workflows clearly.
• Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, deployment pipelines, and microservices architectures is a bonus.
• Self-motivated and capable of working independently in a fast-paced environment with minimal supervision.
• Ability to handle ambiguity and adapt to rapidly changing business needs while maintaining focus on delivering quality solutions.

Work Expectations

Within 1 month

• Attend KT sessions conducted by the engineering and product teams to gain a deep understanding of the product, its architecture, and workflows.
• Learn about the team's development processes, tools, and key challenges.
• Work closely with the product team to understand product requirements and contribute to the design and development of features.
• Dive deep into the existing backend architecture, including database structures, APIs, and integration points, to fully understand the technical landscape
• Begin addressing minor technical challenges and bugs, while understanding the underlying architecture and tech stack.
• Begin to participate in creating action plans for new features, ensuring that design and implementation are aligned with product goals.

Within 3 months

• Achieve full autonomy in working on the codebase, demonstrating the ability to independently deliver high-quality features from design to deployment.
• Take complete ownership of critical modules, ensuring they are optimized for performance and maintainability.
• Act as a technical resource for the team, offering support and guidance to peers on complex issues.
• Collaborate with DevOps to optimize deployment pipelines, debug production issues, and improve backend infrastructure.
• Lead discussions for technical solutions and provide recommendations for architectural improvements.
• Contribute to the design of new features by translating functional requirements into detailed technical specifications.
• Prepare regular updates on assigned tasks and communicate effectively with the engineering manager and other stakeholders.

Within 6 months

• Be fully independent in their development tasks, contributing to key features and solving critical challenges.
• Demonstrate strong problem-solving skills and the ability to take ownership of technical modules.
• Actively participate in code reviews and technical discussions, ensuring high-quality deliverables.
• Collaborate seamlessly with cross-functional teams to align technical solutions with business requirements.
• Establish themselves as a reliable and proactive team member, contributing to the team’s growth and success.

Personality traits we really admire:

• Great attitude to ask questions, learn and suggest process improvements.
• Has attention to details and helps identify edge cases.
• Highly motivated and coming up with ideas and perspective to help us move towards our goals faster.
• Follows timelines and absolute commitment to deadlines.

Interview Process:

• Round 1 Interview - Profile Evaluation
• Round 2 Interview - Assignment Evaluation
• Round 3 Interview - Engineering Team & Technical Founder
• Round 4 Interview - HR

Compensation:

• As per industry standards

Why Join Us:

• Freedom & Responsibility: If you are a person who enjoys challenging work & pushing your boundaries, then this is the right place for you. We appreciate new ideas & ownership as well as flexibility with working hours.
• Great Salary & Equity: We keep up with the market standards & provide pay packages considering updated standards. Also as Appknox continues to grow, you’ll have a great opportunity to earn more & grow with us. Moreover, we also provide equity options for our top performers.
• Holistic Growth: We foster a culture of continuous learning and take a much more holistic approach to training and developing our assets: the employees. We shall also support you all on that journey of yours.
• Transparency: Being a part of a start-up is an amazing experience one of the reasons being the open communication & transparency at multiple levels. Working with Appknox will give you the opportunity to experience it all first hand.
• Health insurance: We offer family health insurance coverage to employees

About koolio.ai

Website: www.koolio.ai

Koolio Inc. is a cutting-edge Silicon Valley startup dedicated to transforming how stories are told through audio. Our mission is to democratize audio content creation by empowering individuals and businesses to effortlessly produce high-quality, professional-grade content. Leveraging AI and intuitive web-based tools, koolio.ai enables creators to craft, edit, and distribute audio content—from storytelling to educational materials, brand marketing, and beyond. We are passionate about helping people and organizations share their voices, fostering creativity, collaboration, and engaging storytelling for a wide range of use cases.

About the Internship Position

We are looking for a motivated Backend Development Intern to join our innovative team. As an intern at koolio.ai, you’ll have the opportunity to work on a next-gen AI-powered platform and gain hands-on experience developing and optimizing backend systems that power our platform. This internship is ideal for students or recent graduates who are passionate about backend technologies and eager to learn in a dynamic, fast-paced startup environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assist in the development and maintenance of backend systems and APIs.
• Write reusable, testable, and efficient code to support scalable web applications.
• Work with cloud services and server-side technologies to manage data and optimize performance.
• Troubleshoot and debug existing backend systems, ensuring reliability and performance.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate frontend features with backend logic.

Requirements and Skills:

• Education: Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Technical Skills:
• Good understanding of server-side technologies like Python
• Familiarity with REST APIs and database systems (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, or NoSQL databases).
• Exposure to cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure is a plus.
• Knowledge of version control systems such as Git.
• Soft Skills:
• Eagerness to learn and adapt in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
• Effective communication and teamwork capabilities.
• Other Skills: Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and basic knowledge of containerization (e.g., Docker) is a bonus.

Why Join Us?

• Gain real-world experience working on a cutting-edge platform.
• Work alongside a talented and passionate team committed to innovation.
• Receive mentorship and guidance from industry experts.
• Opportunity to transition to a full-time role based on performance and company needs.

This internship is an excellent opportunity to kickstart your career in backend development, build critical skills, and contribute to a product that has a real-world impact.

About Simpl 

The thrill of working at a start-up that is starting to scale massively is something else. Simpl (FinTech startup of the year - 2020) was formed in 2015 by Nitya Sharma, an investment banker from Wall Street and Chaitra Chidanand, a tech executive from the Valley, when they teamed up with a very clear mission - to make money simple, so that people can live well and do amazing things. Simpl is the payment platform for the mobile-first world, and we’re backed by some of the best names in fintech globally (folks who have invested in Visa, Square and Transferwise), and has Joe Saunders, Ex Chairman and CEO of Visa as a board member.

Everyone at Simpl is an internal entrepreneur who is given a lot of bandwidth and resources to create the next breakthrough towards the long term vision of “making money Simpl”. Our first product is a payment platform that lets people buy instantly, anywhere online, and pay later. In the background, Simpl uses big data for credit underwriting, risk and fraud modelling, all without any paperwork, and enables Banks and Non-Bank Financial Companies to access a whole new consumer market.

In place of traditional forms of identification and authentication, Simpl integrates deeply into merchant apps via SDKs and APIs. This allows for more sophisticated forms of authentication that take full advantage of smartphone data and processing power.

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We’re looking for polyglot developers who love to code. You should have >3 years of experience building high-quality products. You should have the ability to write clean code and must’ve worked on one of Ruby, NodeJS, Golang or Python

Responsibilities

1. Develop new features - build POCs, get feedback, and scale is our default mode
2. Building reusable and platform specific components
3. Translating designs and wireframes into high-quality code
4. Optimizing services for maximum performance
5. Ensure faster release cycles by managing distribution over the cloud 

Requirements

1. Hands-on experience in all aspects of software development - analysis, coding, writing tests, deployment, the works.
2. Knowledge of relational databases, SQL, ACID and distributed locking
3. Solid OOPS understanding.
4. Good exposure to building distributed systems, micro-services architecture.
5. Continuous delivery experience
6. Exposure to building platforms (not just products) would be a plus