Principal Engineer - iOS Architecture

Goodnotes; City Of London; Remote; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A tech startup specializing in digital note-taking seeks a Technical Architect to lead the evolution of their iOS application. The role involves overseeing architecture, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and driving technical quality. Candidates should have a strong B2C product background and deep expertise in iOS architecture. Flexible working hours and remote options are available.

Benefits

Flexible working hours and location

Medical insurance for dependents

Great annual leave allowance

Meaningful equity in a profitable startup

Budget for home office setup

Company-wide annual offsite

Qualifications

• Strong background in building high-impact B2C products.
• Experience architecting complex systems in a mobile environment.
• Ability to lead technical direction and collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the architecture for the iOS app.
• Partner with product, design, and engineering teams.
• Champion best practices in system design and code quality.

Skills

Technical background in B2C products

Expertise in iOS architecture (Swift)

Experience with real-time collaborative products

Ability to influence teams

Passion for architecture and innovation

Job description

Overview

At Goodnotes, we believe that every individual holds untapped potential waiting to be unleashed. By reimagining the way we interact with information, we’re merging human creativity with the breakthrough capabilities of AI. Our renewed vision and mission drive us to create the best medium for human and AI collaboration, empowering users to explore new dimensions of productivity, creativity, and learning. Join us on this journey as we transform digital note-taking into an inspiring and innovative experience.

Our Values

Dream big — Be visionary, strategic, and open to innovation

Build great things — Work in service of our users, always improving and pushing higher

Operate like an owner — Propel company success and impact with an entrepreneurial mindset

Win like a sports team — Be trusting and collaborative while empowering others

Learn and grow fast — Never stop learning and iterate fast

Share our passion — Share ideas and practice enthusiasm and joy

Be user obsessed — Empathetic, inquisitive, practical

About the Team

You join a distributed team across Europe and Asia, with shared time for collaborative activities such as planning, retros, stand-ups, and brainstorming sessions. Your teams will own the core architecture for our Cross-platform application for Mobile and Web, which serves millions of monthly active users.

About the Role

This is the role for you if you’re excited to work on the following:

• Architecture & Technical Strategy – Define and evolve the architecture for our iOS app, ensuring it is scalable, performant, and maintainable. Drive technical direction and long-term strategy aligned with product goals.
• Cross-functional Collaboration – Partner with product, design, and engineering teams to shape solutions that deliver great user experiences while meeting engineering constraints.
• Hands-on Technical Leadership – Dive deep when needed: write reference implementations, lead architecture reviews, and support teams with technical guidance and mentorship.
• System Design & Quality – Champion best practices in system design, modularity, code quality, and testing. Identify and address system-level issues before they impact product delivery.
• Coding – Prototyping and solving some of our most complex technical challenges.

The skills you will need to be successful in the above:

• Strong technical background in building and scaling high-impact B2C products, ideally with millions of users.
• Deep expertise in mobile architecture – iOS (Swift) with hands-on ability to make decisions and prototype when needed.
• Proven experience architecting complex systems – key design decisions that have withstood time and scale, ideally in a mobile or multi-client environment.
• Ability to influence and lead across teams – even without direct management, you help engineers make better decisions through mentorship, communication, and technical leadership.
• Experience with real-time collaborative productivity products.
• Experience with local/offline-first experiences and event-sourced systems.
• Experience leading architectural initiatives across multiple teams or working closely with engineering leadership.
• Passion for architecture and innovation – stay current with the latest technologies, architectures, and practices in mobile, web, and platform development.

Even if you don’t meet all the criteria listed above, we would still love to hear from you. GoodNotes places a lot of value on learning and development and will support your growth if needed.

Interview Process

• Introduction: The Talent Team wants to hear more about your background, what you are looking for, and why you’d like to join Goodnotes
• 1 Live coding & 1 Technical interview: with one of our Engineers
• Hiring Manager interview: A call with our VP of Engineering to discuss leadership/management experience and biggest challenges
• Present your passion - A short presentation about something you love and enjoy

What’s in it for you

• Remote, flexible working
• Flexible working hours and location
• Medical insurance for you and your dependents
• Great annual leave allowance
• Meaningful equity in a profitable tech startup
• Budget for things like noise-cancelling headphones, setting up your home office, personal development, professional training, and health & wellness
• Sponsored visits to our Hong Kong or London office every 2 years
• Company-wide annual offsite
• Fantastic maternity/ paternity packages and allowances

Note: Employment is contingent upon successful completion of background checks, including verification of employment, education, and criminal records.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Candidate Privacy Notice, which provides important information about the data we collect during the application process. You can find it here.

Candidate Demographic Questions

Goodnotes is committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. This information is collected on a voluntary basis for diversity, equity and inclusion purposes and does not affect your application. The data is anonymous and not linked to your name, identity, or application.

Please note: Goodnotes has my consent to collect, store, and process my data for the purpose of considering me for employment, and for up to 365 days thereafter.