Founding iOS Engineer

Founding iOS Engineer

Company: Our Client
Location: New York City (On-site, Chelsea)
Compensation: $170,000 – $220,000 base + 0.5% – 1.5% equity
Hiring: 1–2 Founding Engineers
Visa Sponsorship: Not available (case-by-case exceptions)

Overview

Our Client is a venture-backed startup building a new consumer primitive: an accountability protocol that adds real financial stakes to personal goals.

The company is the first to successfully navigate the regulatory and infrastructure barriers that previously prevented this market from existing. The business is well-capitalized, resourced for multiple years, and protected by a meaningful regulatory moat.

Hiring two Founding iOS Engineers is the company’s #1 priority. The interview process is highly efficient and moves from initial screen to offer in 7–14 days.

Requirements

What You’ll Do

As a Founding iOS Engineer, you will:

• Work closely with the founding team

• Ship high-quality, production-ready Swift code for a fast, beautiful native iOS app

• Own large portions of the product with real autonomy

• Contribute to backend and API design to support clean, simple on-chain interactions

• Influence product direction, UI/UX, and overall polish

• Wear multiple hats in a true founding-team environment

Tech Stack

• Swift (primary)

• Native iOS development

• Backend/API collaboration

• On-chain interaction support

Experience Requirements

• 2–8 years of software engineering experience

• Strong background in iOS or full-stack mobile development

• Experience at:

  • A top-tier consumer technology company or

  • A venture-backed startup

• Has built and shipped iOS apps or owned large portions of a product end-to-end

• Undergraduate STEM degree from a notable university

Hard Skills

• Deep iOS expertise with Swift(Exceptional React Native engineers open to ramping up on Swift will be considered)

• Full-stack mobile capability — able to build features end-to-end without hand-holding

• Strong product intuition and attention to detail

• Ability to contribute to backend/API design

• High bar for design, UX, and performance

Soft Skills & Mindset

• Sees being a founding engineer as part of their long-term growth

• Comfortable with ownership, ambiguity, and speed

• Strong collaboration and communication skills

• Demonstrated history of building outside of work or school (projects, apps, Web3, music, art, etc.)

Traits We’re Avoiding

• Engineers who have only worked on poorly designed or low-quality iOS apps

• Candidates looking for “just another job” instead of a founding opportunity

Interview Process

Efficient and founder-led:

1. Initial Screen (30 minutes)

   • Assess mindset, interest, and alignment

2. Technical & Product Conversation (30 minutes)

   • Deep dive into technical background and product thinking

3. Technical Problem-Solving Interview (60 minutes)

   • Collaborative discussion (brief sent in advance)

4. Final Conversations

   • Informal chats, Q&A, and mutual fit assessment

Why This Role

• Founding-team equity

• Real ownership and autonomy

• Consumer product with regulatory protection

• Strong runway and serious backing

• Opportunity to build something that hasn’t existed before

Equal Employment Opportunity

TopTechTalent.ai believes that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunities. TopTechTalent.ai recruits, hires, trains, promotes, disciplines and provides other conditions of employment without regard to a person's race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, or expression, age, national origin, citizenship status, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, marital status or other classifications protected under law or Company policy. This includes providing reasonable accommodation for team members' disabilities or religious beliefs and practices.

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🚫 Third-party recruiters, please do not reach out for this role.