Backend Engineering Intern – Summer 2027

About the role

Join AppLovin’s new social platform venture, Gist, as a Backend Engineering Intern. You will help design, build, and maintain the backend services that power content delivery, user interactions, and social features for a platform aimed at curious creators and audiences.

Key responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain backend services and APIs that support content delivery, user interactions, and social features.
• Collaborate with product managers and AI engineers to translate product requirements into sound technical designs.
• Participate in system design discussions and contribute to architectural decisions across the platform.
• Build and iterate on MVPs quickly for creator‑facing and internal operations platforms.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to correctness, reliability, and system performance.
• Learn and grow alongside a senior team in a fast‑moving, high‑ownership environment.

Required profile

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong logical thinking and problem‑solving ability; enjoy breaking down ambiguous problems.
• Ownership mindset, good communication skills, and ability to work both collaboratively and independently.
• Genuine curiosity about large‑scale systems and eagerness to build them.

Required skills

• Proficiency in at least one backend language such as Go, Java, or Python.
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, operating systems, networking, and databases.
• Experience with relational or NoSQL databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB).
• Familiarity with caching or message‑queue systems like Redis or Kafka.
• Comfortable working in a Linux environment.