$170,000–$210,000 Per Year
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Application Programming Interface (API), Best Practices, Continuous Deployment/Delivery, Continuous Integration, Customer Relations, Leadership, Machine Tool, Management Strategy, Mobile Applications, Mobile Devices, MongoDB, Network Design, Node.js, Performance Tuning/Optimization, PostgreSQL, Product Design, Product Development, Product Engineering, Ruby on Rails, Startup, Swift, User Interface/Experience (UI/UX), iOS
About the job Founding iOS Engineer (Native Mobile - Zero to One)
Founding iOS Engineer (Native Mobile - Zero to One)
Location: New York (On-site)
Compensation: $170,000 - $210,000 USD + equity
About the Role
We are seeking a Founding iOS Engineer to build a new native iOS application from scratch for a fast-scaling consumer marketplace.
The current mobile product is built in Flutter. This role will lead the transition to a fully native iOS experience, owning architecture, user experience foundations, and long-term mobile strategy.
This is a true zero-to-one role where requirements are often undefined. You will be expected to bring structure, clarity, and technical direction while shaping what the mobile product becomes.
Key Responsibilities
Product & Engineering Ownership
- Own end-to-end iOS development across core user journeys:
- Search & discovery
- Property details
- Booking flow
- User accounts and post-booking experience
Architecture & Systems Design- Build a native iOS codebase from the ground up
- Define architecture patterns and state management strategy
- Design networking layer and API integration structure
- Establish CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, and release processes
Performance & Quality- Optimize app performance (startup time, responsiveness, stability)
- Ensure offline handling and reliability standards
- Instrument observability and analytics for product iteration
Collaboration & Strategy- Partner with Product and Design on consumer-facing experiences
- Collaborate with Backend teams on API contracts optimized for mobile
- Define long-term mobile engineering strategy and scalability roadmap
Leadership- Help shape mobile engineering culture and best practices
- Contribute to foundational decisions for future iOS team growth
Requirements- 5+ years of experience building production iOS applications at scale
- Strong expertise in Swift and modern iOS development patterns
- Experience owning or significantly influencing iOS architecture decisions
- Track record of building polished, consumer-facing mobile apps
- Strong product sense and ability to operate in ambiguous environments
- Experience collaborating with backend engineers on APIs and data contracts
Nice to Have- SwiftUI and/or UIKit experience
- Exposure to backend systems (Ruby on Rails, Node.js)
- Familiarity with PostgreSQL or MongoDB
- Experience with AWS or Datadog
- Knowledge of mobile observability and performance tooling
Ideal Candidate Profile
This role is best suited for a high-ownership mobile engineer who: - Thrives in zero-to-one environments
- Prefers defining architecture over following it
- Has strong product intuition and UX sensitivity
- Can independently drive both technical and product decisions
- Is excited to build both product and engineering culture from scratch
Benefits- Equity participation with meaningful long-term upside
- Founding-level ownership of mobile product direction
- Opportunity to build a native iOS app from scratch
- High-impact role in a fast-growing consumer marketplace