Semih Ünaldı

Engineering Manager

Education

BSc in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering

Yildiz Technical University

Languages

  • Turkish (Native)
  • English (Professional)

Fun Facts

  • Built a 3meter sailboat in my garage
  • Darts & Table Tennis: Active participant in recreational sports for team-building events.

Career Profile

I’ve spent over 10 years in software engineering, working my way from writing code to leading teams that build impactful, scalable solutions. I’m passionate about making things work better—whether that’s optimizing systems, mentoring engineers, or figuring out how to turn user feedback into results.

My sweet spot is at the intersection of backend systems, cloud infrastructure, and data-driven decision-making. I love the challenge of solving complex problems and helping teams grow along the way.

  • Programming: Spring Framework & Spring Boot, Java, NodeJS, React, NextJS, Typescript, Native iOS & Android Development
  • Cloud: AWS, Google Cloud, Kubernetes
  • Tools: Postgres, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ, Kafka, Elastic Search, Oracle, MySQL, Jenkins

Experiences

Engineering Manager

Sep. 2022 → Present
Talabat
  • Delivered a new rewards redemption flow directly from the menu, driving €2.5M in incremental revenue.
  • Increased cashback and voucher utilization by 7% through targeted A/B testing strategies.
  • Implemented vendor reward indicators in search and vendor lists, leading to €440K in added engagement-driven revenue.
  • Led efforts to introduce reward vendor filtering in search, generating an additional €455K revenue.
  • Achieved 30% adoption growth and 10% GMV increase for Talabat Rewards in H2 2023 while reducing liability costs by €500K.
  • Reduced involuntary churn for Talabat Pro by 59% in Qatar and 40% in the UAE.

Software Development Manager

Sep. 2021 → Sep. 2022
Mindbehind
  • Managed and coached four teams (15+ members) while spearheading technical initiatives.
  • Optimized cloud costs and which resulted 50% and 25% savings respectively on QA and Production environments
  • Implemented code quality & security checks by introducing SonarQube which helped increasing our code coverage to 80% in 1 year of time.
  • Developed WhatsApp Business API integration for distributed notifications.
  • Led GDPR and KVKK accreditation compliance.
  • Worked closely with HR in the process of talent management and hiring processes. Which resulted in 4 hires.

Enterprise Architect

Mar. 2021 → Sep. 2021
Allianz
  • Leading the Change Advisory Board, consisting of Solutions Architects from each IT team, which is responsible from developing technical solutions.
  • Responsible from overall/high-level application portfolio and technology landscape across Allianz.
  • Relating the project portfolio to application landscape, performing EA Compliance Checks for all new projects and interfaces.
  • Creating and developing POC's of new projects & tools.
  • Introduced and implemented Camunda to the organization

Solutions Architect

May. 2020 → Mar. 2021
Allianz
  • Responsible for transformation in Allianz Health Domain legacy projects.
  • Suggest architectural improvements, design and integration solutions, while working closely with Enterprise Architect Team.
  • Implemented messaging solutions with RabbitMQ.
  • Lead cultural transformation of Test Driven Development.

Lead Software Developer

Sep. 2018 → May. 2020
Allianz
  • Modernized legacy PL/SQL businesses to Spring & Angular & semi-microservices stack.
  • Centralized and parameterized all outgoing sms and emails throughout Allianz Turkey.
  • Coached the members & interns of the development team.

HR Solutions Development - Senior Software Developer

Sep. 2017 → Sep. 2018
Logo Business Solutions
  • Built payroll SaaS targeting global markets using Spring Cloud.
  • Created developer tools, to automate repetitive tasks.
  • Implemented scalable APIs and containerized infrastructure using Docker.

CRM Services Development - Software Developer

Sep. 2014 → Aug. 2017
Turkcell
  • Developed and maintained CRM and order management systems for Turkcell SuperOnline (ISP).
  • Introduced Jenkins to enable continuous deployments and handed over to operational teams.
  • Built an application for operational teams to manage their daily work and automate common tasks.
  • Coached and helped the new members & trainees of the development team

Software Developer Intern

Jul. 2014 → Sep. 2014
Turkcell
  • 3rd place in Software Innovation Project Competition among over 300 interns.
  • Developed Mobile Health application and its hardware equipment which tracks vehicles through GPS during traffic accidents and informs health care services.

Software Developer

Mar. 2014 - Jun. 2014 (Part-Time)
Dume-Tech
  • Developed advertisement recognition algorithm for an application which understands end of tv commercials and sends notification to users. Using; C++ and OpenCV (an open source image processing library)

R&D Department Intern

Jun. 2012 – Jul. 2012
Delphi Packard Electric Systems
  • Figured an error on production line that breaks blades that cuts electrical cables and fixed it with installing a sensor group to stop the machine when that error occurs.

Projects

Personal Projects

Charty for WhatsApp - iOS Application
Interactive Timeline Installation - Could Shakespeare have listened to Verdi?