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# Founding Software Engineer (iOS)

- **Company:** Recruiting from Scratch
- **Location:** New York, NY, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $180,000 - $280,000
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, IOS Applications, Apple IOS, Continuous Integration, Interaction Design, Mobile Application Software, Software Engineering, Strategies of Testing, Uikit, Swiftui
- **Published:** November 8, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/founding-software-engineer-ios-new-york-ny--b21e5033-23de-4933-8efe-09c4ed58d6fd

## About the Role

Software Engineering, iOS, Funding, Corporate Planning, Startup, Ecosystems, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Customer Support/Service, Venture Capital, Revenue Growth, * 5-10 years of experience building user-facing iOS applications with meaningful production usage.

 * Deep proficiency with Swift and modern native iOS development.
 * Strong experience with UIKit and/or SwiftUI.
 * Demonstrated experience taking an iOS application from 01, ideally with substantial ownership over architecture as well as the end-user experience.
 * Has personally owned end-to-end development of a highly polished consumer or prosumer mobile product, or has worked as a founding/early iOS engineer.
 * Able to provide examples of polished applications they have personally helped build, with clear ownership over meaningful portions of the product.
 * Strong understanding of modern mobile architecture, patterns, and engineering best practices.
 * Experience designing modular systems and abstractions that can support a growing product and engineering team.
 * Strong product and design intuition, with an eye for the details that distinguish a functional mobile application from an exceptional one.
 * Able to take ambiguous product problems and independently turn them into production-ready solutions.
 * Highly customer-oriented and able to clearly explain who they were building for, what problem they were solving, and why specific product decisions mattered.
 * Strong communication skills and comfortable working closely with Product and Design.
 * Demonstrated career progression and meaningful ownership throughout prior roles.
 * Comfortable operating with the autonomy expected of a founding engineer.

Preferred

 * Previous experience as a founding or very early iOS engineer.
 * Experience building a consumer-grade mobile application with significant usage and a high degree of product polish.
 * Background at a high-growth, venture-backed startup.
 * A combination of strong startup experience and experience within a best-in-class engineering organization.
 * Experience building AI-native or conversational mobile interfaces.
 * Experience establishing mobile architecture, testing, and CI/CD infrastructure from scratch.
 * Previous startup founder or founding engineer experience.
 * Strong CS or other technical academic background.
 * Experience working on data-intensive products.
 * Track record of longer, meaningful tenure rather than repeated short-term or contract engagements.
 * Genuine interest in startups, technology discovery, venture capital, and the company's underlying product mission.

## Description

* Own the mobile product end-to-end, from initial project setup and architecture through production launch and iteration.
 * Define the technical foundation and long-term architecture for native iOS development.
 * Partner closely with Product and Design to turn ambiguous ideas into highly polished mobile experiences.
 * Build AI-native mobile interactions, including conversational and chat-oriented product experiences.
 * Determine how the web and mobile products should work together while taking advantage of experiences that are uniquely valuable on mobile.
 * Establish modular architecture and scalable abstractions that allow the mobile codebase to grow cleanly.
 * Define testing strategies, CI/CD infrastructure, reusable components, and engineering patterns for future mobile engineers.
 * Maintain an exceptionally high bar for performance, interaction design, usability, and product polish.
 * Make foundational technical decisions independently while remaining closely connected to customer needs.
 * Ship quickly, learn from real user behavior, and continuously improve the product.
 * Help hire and mentor future mobile engineers as the team expands.