Head of APP Development

head of app development

senior full-stack engineer · owner of the turnapp
Orange County, CA · Onsite minimum 3 days a week · Full-Time · Start: ASAP

read this before you apply.
This is an ownership seat. You own the turnapp: the mobile app, the backend that powers it, the QR and NFC infrastructure on every product we ship, the admin dashboard, and the integrations that make the app ecosystem work. All of it rolls up to you.

We are turn. A cannabis brand inspired by Red Bull, Supreme, Off-White, and Poppi.

Every product we ship carries a QR code or NFC tag, and every one of those tags is a doorway into the turnapp: a scan-to-collect rewards ecosystem, live on iOS and Android, where customers scan products to earn digital collectible cards, complete sets, unlock physical prizes, and redeem points for apparel. There is nothing else like it in our space.

The app is live. The concept is proven. What doesn\'t fully exist yet is the infrastructure it deserves: the backend, the QR lifecycle management, the admin visibility, and the integrations that tie it together. That is what this role builds, with full technical authority, real budget, and real support. What you will not have is tolerance for bugs in production, missed timelines without communication, or code that works but breaks the customer experience.

what we don\'t want.
Do not apply if any of these describe you:

what we don\'t want.

• You treat QA as someone else\'s job. If your instinct is to push code and let someone else catch the break, stop reading.
• You need to be micromanaged. This role owns itself. The checklist is yours: you own it, you make sure it\'s right, and when it flows up, we trust the work.
• You need a team on day one. You start as the team. You earn the headcount by shipping.
• You\'ve "worked with AI tools" but never built systems around them. We need someone who already builds with AI and has deployed it inside a real product or workflow.
• You\'ve built apps but never architected a scan event system, an ownership ledger, or a rarity engine at scale. General app dev experience does not cover this.
• You\'ve never shipped a physical-to-digital experience. NFC tags, dynamic QR codes, scan-to-collect mechanics, and loyalty ecosystems are not side features here. They are the product.
• You clock out. When something is broken in the customer journey, you fix it. Not tomorrow. Not after standup. Now.

who we want.
Our perfect candidate has shipped a physical-to-digital product with real users and real transaction volume: loyalty, rewards, or collectibles, tied to physical inventory. If that\'s you, stop reading and apply.

If you\'re close, you\'ve spent years as a senior full-stack engineer who has owned a product end to end: consumer mobile apps that feel native, backends that don\'t fall over, and integrations that stay fixed. You\'ve managed thousands of unique QR codes tied to live inventory. You inherit broken things and fix them.

You build with AI. It\'s how one person moves at the speed of a team, and you\'ve already proven it inside a real product. And when it\'s time to grow the team, you write the specs, recruit, set the standard, and hold it.

why this role matters here.
turn is a physical product brand with a digital nervous system. The scan moment, that second when a customer points their phone at a turn product, is the most important second in our customer relationship. It needs to be instant, flawless, and satisfying. You are the reason it is.

engage. collect. innovate.
The turnapp exists for three reasons, in this order.

engage.
Every scan starts a relationship. Cards, sets, prizes, points: the game keeps customers coming back between purchases. Engagement is retention, and retention is why the app earns its place on someone\'s phone.

collect.
Every scan is a data point, and not the boring kind. Not just an email address: location, device, flavor, purchase frequency, refill behavior, and as our hardware evolves, usage data like puff counts. Collected in ways nobody else in the category can touch.

innovate.
The data feeds back into the products themselves. What we learn from scans shapes the flavors we launch, the hardware we build, and the seasons we design. The better the app gets, the smarter our product tech becomes.

You own the pipeline that turns a scan into that intelligence, end to end.

the work itself.
You own the turnapp ecosystem. That means you are accountable for all of the following:

the turnapp and collectibles engine.

* Scan-to-mint flow. Each product carries a unique QR or NFC tag. Scanning authenticates the user, deduplicates the event, and mints the collectible card server-side. One physical tag, one mint, forever.

Card rarity system. SZN 1 runs five tiers: daycard, glow, pulse, mythic, heaven made. Each with its own scan probabilities and visual treatments.

Set completion and prize logic. Card combinations unlock physical prizes. Real-time set detection, limited prize inventory, fulfillment triggers.

Points ledger. Scans generate points, points redeem for apparel through Shopify. Accurate, auditable, fraud-resistant.

Season architecture. SZN 2 has to be buildable without tearing down what SZN 1 earned. Rollover logic from the start.

Admin dashboard. Scan analytics, geo heatmaps, card inventory states, user data, prize redemption tracking, exports.

QR and NFC infrastructure.

* Generation, assignment, and lifecycle of thousands of unique QR codes tied to live inventory and specific card instances.
* Geo and device tracking on every scan event.
* Deduplication logic that is airtight.
* NFC as a premium tier. Podpaks are the natural candidate.

the app ecosystem integrations.

* Shopify headless integration for apparel redemption using points as currency.
* ManyChat automation flows: scan event triggers, re-engagement sequences, CRM connections.
* Identify and eliminate integration debt across the app stack.

the data.

* The scan-to-insight pipeline. Every scan event captured, structured, and queryable.
* Dashboards the company runs on: marketing, product, and leadership learn from what you build.
* A data model built to grow into connected devices, puff counts, and usage telemetry, without a rebuild.

the transition.

* The outgoing dev team stays for a short handoff window, then gone. You become the team. Extract what you need fast, evaluate their work honestly, and make the call on what survives.
* Establish code review protocols, version control discipline, QA infrastructure, and release gates.

the team, in time.

* As the platform scales, build the team under you: overseas, domestic, or both. Write the specs, recruit, run the onboarding, hold the standard.

AI, everywhere in how you work.
AI is how this role scales. You build with it daily, so one owner ships what used to take a team. And you deploy it inside the app ecosystem: automation flows, fraud detection, scan analytics, re-engagement. AI is not a tool you add on. It is infrastructure, and infrastructure is your domain.

the stack.

What we\'re working in:

* React Native or Flutter (consumer mobile app, native quality)
* React / Next.js / Vercel (web and admin)
* TypeScript / SQL (non-negotiable)
* Node.js / NestJS backend, RESTful and event-driven
* PostgreSQL or Supabase
* Shopify headless and app development
* Firebase, AWS, or Supabase cloud infrastructure
* Dynamic QR and NFC systems at scale
* Apple App Store and Google Play submission: you know the process and rules for each platform
* ManyChat, GitHub, Agile project management

What you need to have actually shipped:

* A loyalty, rewards, or collectibles system with real users and real transaction volume.
* A scan-event pipeline tied to physical inventory.
* A Shopify headless integration with a points or credits redemption layer.
* A geo and device analytics layer on user actions.
* An admin dashboard with meaningful operational data.
* AI-powered tools or automations inside a real product or workflow.

Preferred: automated QA and regression testing, security-first architecture around scan deduplication and points fraud, season-based collectibles mechanics, and UI/UX fluency.

the first 90 days.
This role is measured by execution, not intention.

You walk in and audit everything: the codebase, the outgoing team's work, the QR lifecycle, the integrations, the data. Then you bring us your plan. What stays, what gets rebuilt, what it costs, and your timeline. We won\'t hand you one. Scoping this rebuild accurately is part of the interview.

Then you execute against your own numbers. That\'s the seat.

compensation.
Strong budget for the right person. This role replaces significant vendor spend and we price it accordingly. Base salary bracket to be finalized, dependent on the level we land on and what you\'ve actually shipped. We would rather pay you what you\'ve earned in 12 months than pin a number on you in week one.

the practicals.
Location. Onsite minimum 3 days a week at turn HQ in Orange County, CA.
Start. ASAP.
Hours. When the scan moment breaks, the clock doesn\'t matter. We work until it\'s right.
Benefits. Health, dental, and vision insurance. Standard PTO.

a note from the founders.
We started turn in 2021 to change how people see cannabis. Red Bull, Supreme, Off-White, Poppi. Experience-first brands. The turnapp is where the physical brand becomes a digital relationship, and this role makes it real at scale.

If you want to build something people can feel, not just use, this is your role. If you execute, you earn trust, scope, a team, and a long-term seat at the table.