Senior Backend Software Engineer (AR, Spatial & AI-powered Experiences)

About this work area

At Group Digital, we drive the digital agenda to keep IKEA leading in an uncertain and fast-moving environment. We develop, provide, and operate innovative digital products and platforms that scale globally and support millions of customers every day.

We are now creating digital experiences that help millions of people imagine, create, and furnish their homes with confidence. Within Ingka Digital, IKEA Kreativ is a key part of the Home Imagination Platform (HIP), combining 3D, AI, and scalable backend systems to reduce the “imagination gap” for customers and co-workers worldwide.

We are now looking for a Backend Engineer to help build, scale, and evolve the backend and API foundations of IKEA Kreativ, working on the extended team for our partners at Geomagical Labs in California.

Who you are

We are looking for a hands-on backend engineer who enjoys working in technically rich environments and collaborating across teams and locations. Does this sound like you?

• You are a strong software engineer with solid computer science fundamentals.
• You enjoy designing and building robust backend systems and APIs that scale.
• You care deeply about code quality, reliability, and maintainability.
• You communicate clearly and collaborate with empathy and positivity.
• You are comfortable working in distributed teams and across time zones.
• You are curious, proactive, and continuously looking for ways to improve systems and engineering practices.
• The IKEA culture and values are central to how we work. To thrive and grow with us, it’s important that you share these values. Learn more about life at IKEA at www.ikea.com.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES:

As a Backend Engineer – IKEA Kreativ, you will:

• Design, build, and maintain backend services and APIs that power the IKEA Kreativ platform.
• Work hands-on with Python and Django, contributing to both new features and existing systems.
• Collaborate closely with Geomagical Labs engineers in California on platform design and system integrations.
• Participate in scoping, designing, and implementing new API features and backend subsystems.
• Improve scalability, reliability, and performance of backend systems used by millions of customers.
• Work with other IKEA service teams to build integrations across the broader Home Imagination Platform.
• Contribute to healthy engineering practices, including:
  • Code reviews to ensure code and architectural quality
  • Writing and reviewing technical and design documentation
  • Driving effective automated testing and operational excellence

DESIRED EXPERIENCE:

We believe you’ll thrive in this role if you have:

• Strong software engineering skills and excellent computer science foundations.
• 3+ years of experience with Python and Django in production environments.
• 3+ years of experience with SQL, preferably PostgreSQL.
• Experience using Celery or similar background task processing frameworks.
• Strong English communication skills, both written and verbal.
• A collaborative, empathetic, and positive working style.

Nice to have:

• Experience with containers and container-based deployment.
• Experience working with Google Cloud Platform.
• Experience building low-latency, customer-facing systems.
• Experience with DAG or pipeline orchestration tools such as Airflow .

Together as a team

We’re the ones who make it possible for people to have a smarter life at home and a hassle-free and rewarding shopping experience. Together we work to find new digital solutions for every business need to help make IKEA a great and efficient place to work. We like to think of ourselves as innovative and modern, and we believe that nothing would actually work without us.

WHAT DO WE OFFER:

• A chance to work on influential 3D and AI-powered products on a global, multi-million-user scale.
• The opportunity to be a member of a small but high impact team, working across multiple product and platform areas.
• Collaboration with and learning from experienced engineers and serial tech entrepreneurs.
• Exposure to global product development and close collaboration with teams in Europe and USA.
• Opportunities for conference attendance and travel, including collaboration in Silicon Valley.
• A flexible work environment that values your well-being, growth, and continuous learning.

In line with our value of togetherness we believe the best way for us to collaborate and co-create is when we meet in the office. This is why we expect you to spend the majority of time in the office.

To enable a modern, lean, and agile IKEA fit for growth in the future, we are currently implementing new systems and changing ways of working in Group P&C. Due to this, we would like to apologise for possible delays that might come up during this recruitment process.