Dogukan Kotan — Senior Backend Engineer

about

Backend engineer with 10+ years of experience building large-scale systems in banking/fintech and e-commerce. Based in Istanbul, currently Senior Expert Software Developer at Innovance Consultancy — leading backend architecture, mentoring engineers, and owning delivery for enterprise clients. Python is my main stack: FastAPI, Django, the whole ecosystem.

I go deep on AI-assisted engineering — Claude Code, MCP server development, the Anthropic API. The way we build software is changing fast and I want to be at the front of it. I hold dual B.S. degrees in Computer Engineering and Electrical & Electronics Engineering.

skills

python

Python

FastAPI

Django

Flask

Django REST

SQLAlchemy

Pydantic

Celery

Pytest

backend

Java

Spring Boot

databases

PostgreSQL

MySQL / MariaDB

Redis

MongoDB

messaging_async

RabbitMQ

Kafka

gRPC

ci_cd_devops

Jenkins

GitLab CI

GitHub Actions

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Linux

Nginx

cloud_platforms

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

frontend

Next.js

React

ai_engineering

dk@portfolio — claude-code

$ claude --version Claude Code — Anthropic's official CLI $ cat workflow.md AI-first development workflow. I use Claude Code and OpenCode as primary coding environments — architecting systems, writing and refactoring code, debugging, and shipping faster with AI in the loop. $ ls ./tools/ claude-code opencode cursor mcp-servers anthropic-sdk openai-sdk $ cat certifications.txt ✓ Model Context Protocol: Advanced Topics ✓ Building with the Claude API ✓ Introduction to Claude Code ✓ Introduction to Agent Skills $ _

Claude Code OpenCode Anthropic API MCP Cursor AI-assisted dev Prompt Engineering

experience

Innovance Consultancy // November 2022 — Present

July 2024 — Present · promoted

Senior Expert Software Developer

Leading backend architecture and delivery for enterprise banking/fintech and e-commerce clients. Owning system design decisions, mentoring engineers, driving code review standards, and managing technical communication with clients.

November 2022 — July 2024

Senior Software Developer

Designed and built backend services for banking and e-commerce clients using Python (FastAPI, Django), PostgreSQL, Redis, and Kafka across multiple consulting projects.

June 2022 — November 2022

Senior Software Engineer

Huawei

Backend development for Petal Search R&D — large-scale search infrastructure and data processing services handling high-volume query and crawl data.

June 2021 — June 2022

Senior Backend Engineer

Akinon

Implemented and maintained commerce backend features — payment, shipment, campaign and more — on a high-traffic, cloud-based headless commerce platform serving global retail brands, using Python.

Bon Intelligence // June 2019 — June 2021 · Istanbul & Izmir

June 2020 — June 2021 · promoted

Software Engineer Team Lead

Promoted to lead a team of 3 engineers building an AI and IoT-powered analytics platform — Wi-Fi sensors and custom algorithms delivering consumer behavior insights and marketing analytics to retail clients.

June 2019 — June 2020

Software Development Specialist

Built IoT data ingestion and processing services for Wi-Fi sensor analytics at Izmir Urla Teknopark.

January 2017 — May 2019

Full Stack Developer

Workif · Izmir Teknopark

Developed and managed a SaaS product combining CRM and ERP capabilities for SMEs, working in a startup environment.