Founding iOS Engineer (Native Mobile - Zero to One)
Essence Coaching Group, New York, NY, United States
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
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