iOS Engineer
Why this role exists
SideShift is building the operating system for the creator economy: brands run campaigns, creators make authentic product videos, and the platform handles matching, tracking, and payouts.
We’re ~20 people, ~2 years old, and growing fast: revenue roughly 3× last month and ~10× over the last 6 months. More than 1M creators and 3,000+ brands use SideShift; $100M+ has been paid out to creators. If you’ve seen social groundswell around brands like Cursor, Suno, or Dr. Melaxin, that content often started here.
The creator iOS app is the center of that experience: discover deals, track performance, get paid. Today our CTO covers it part-time. We’re hiring the engineer who will own that entire app end to end.
This is not a ticket queue. You’ll ship with founders, design, and backend; set mobile architecture and taste; and run an AI-native workflow (agents everywhere; Grok Bot is how a lot of the team gets work done). If you want a polished consumer surface, real ownership, and a company that’s already working (not pitching a deck), keep reading.
What you’ll own
The full creator-facing iOS app: idea → design partnership → Swift implementation → launch → iteration
Product quality that feels native, fast, and design-forward (think Apple / Robinhood / Airbnb-level craft, not “good enough for MVP”)
Architecture, reliability, and performance as usage and campaigns scale
Close loop with Drew Levin (Co-founder & CTO) and the founding eng team, then increasingly autonomous ownership of mobile
Engineering habits that scale when mobile isn’t a one-person surface anymore
What success looks like
30 days
Shipped your first meaningful change to production. Oriented in the codebase, creator flows, and how brands / payouts / campaigns show up in the app. Working rhythm with Drew and design. Clear view of what’s broken, what’s brittle, and what’s highest leverage next.
60 days
Owned and launched at least one end-to-end feature or major improvement without being handed a fully spec’d ticket. Reliability and polish visibly better on a surface you touch. Comfortable running your own AI-assisted workflow the way the rest of the team does.
90 days
You are the primary owner of the creator iOS app. Drew is mostly out of day-to-day mobile. You’ve set (or tightened) architecture and quality bar, and the team trusts you to turn ambiguous product goals into shipped native experiences.
6 months
Several high-impact surfaces shipped and iterated. App feels faster and more intentional for creators. Performance, crash, and shipping cadence are in a place you’re proud of. You’ve left clear technical direction so the next mobile hire (when it happens) has a playbook, not a mystery.
1 year
Creator mobile is a product pillar you own: measurable impact on how creators find deals, ship content, and get paid. SideShift’s iOS experience is something candidates and brands notice. You’ve grown the bar, and if we expand mobile headcount, you’re the person who defines what “great” looks like here.
Who thrives here
Strong Swift IC (~2–6 years) who’s shipped real consumer or marketplace apps, ideally 0→1 or high-ownership surfaces
Product and design taste: you notice jank, spacing, and motion before someone files a ticket
High ownership: ambiguous problem → shipped product, without waiting for a perfect roadmap
Comfortable in a small, fast, profitable team where AI tools are part of how work gets done, not a side experiment
Excited by NYC in-person (FiDi HQ, 5 days/week). We’ll talk relocation for the right person.
Nice to have: marketplace / creator / payments / messaging; early-stage high-growth; analytics and experimentation; personal App Store work you’re proud of.
Process
Conversation with Drew Levin, Co-founder & CTO
Technical deep-dive with Liam Shalom, Software Engineer (built-something focus, not LeetCode theater)
Paid 2–3 day work trial in NYC with the team
References + offer
Location: New York City, in person 5 days/week
Comp: 150,000–230,000 + equity, calibrated to your experience and scope. Relocation available for the right hire.