iOS Engineer

iOS Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site (5 days/week) · Full-time
Compensation: $170,000–$230,000 + competitive equity

About the Company

Our client is a Series B consumer hardware company in San Francisco building AI-native devices. They operate as an R&D studio — each product is its own program rather than a version bump on a single line — and back a small, world-class team with an in-house prototyping lab and full creative control over the roadmap. Their next device launches this year.

Founded 2021 · ~22 people · Industry: Consumer Tech / AI hardware

The Role

You'll own the iOS companion app that sits directly on top of the client's hardware. It's the primary way customers interact with the device, so this is a central engineering role rather than a peripheral one — covering pairing and connectivity, real-time device state, firmware delivery, and surfacing on-device and cloud AI features. The work is cross-functional by default, alongside hardware, firmware, and backend/ML, and engineers own their features end-to-end from architecture through App Store release.

What you'll be doing

• Build device pairing and connectivity: BLE and Wi-Fi pairing, reconnection handling, background connectivity, and in-app firmware updates
• Craft a real-time, low-latency UI that reflects live device state and streaming data
• Surface on-device and cloud AI features, coordinating between local inference and cloud processing
• Architect the companion app: device state, sync, and graceful handling of offline and degraded connectivity
• Go deep on the native platform: background modes, push notifications, Bluetooth permissions, and battery/performance optimization for an always-connected app

Tech stack: Swift, SwiftUI/UIKit, Core Bluetooth, real-time data streaming

Requirements

• Strong Swift and SwiftUI/UIKit skills, with production iOS apps shipped
• Hands-on experience with Core Bluetooth and/or real-time data streaming
• Track record of owning a feature end-to-end — architecture, build, test, and App Store release
• Comfortable partnering across hardware, firmware, and backend/ML teams
• Self-directed and effective inside a small engineering team with minimal process

Nice to Haves

• Have shipped a production iOS app that pairs with physical hardware — a wearable, medical device, or other connected product
• Real native-platform depth on an always-connected app: background modes, permissions, battery and performance tuning
• Startup or small-team experience, including a small team operating inside a larger organization
• Personal projects or side builds that show sustained curiosity
• Background building complex, frequently updated iOS apps at scale, or from device-connected companies such as wearables or health hardware

Why Join

• A central role: the companion app is the primary interface to the client's hardware
• Small, elite team with an in-house lab and end-to-end feature ownership
• Real hardware shipping this year, in a studio that prizes being prolific over chasing a single "next big thing"

Details

• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Work policy: On-site, 5 days/week
• Compensation: $170,000–$230,000 + equity
• Visa sponsorship: H-1B, OPT supported
• Employment type: Full-time