Founding Mobile Engineer (React Native)

Nectar Social; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity and competitive compensation

Health, vision, and dental benefits +

401(k) match

ClassPass membership

$50/month mobile stipend

$50/month internet stipend

Housing stipend (Palo Alto)

Commuter benefits

Job summary

Nectar Social, a San Francisco Bay Area startup, is hiring a Founding Mobile Engineer to own and define the mobile experience from the ground up. You will architect the platform end-to-end and ship AI-powered features that bring Nectar's capabilities to brand teams and customers across iOS and Android.

The role offers high autonomy, direct influence on product direction, and close collaboration with product, design, and the founders to establish engineering standards in a fast-moving startup.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience with React Native.
• Proven track record of shipping high-quality production mobile applications.
• Strong understanding of mobile architecture, navigation patterns, state management, and platform-specific considerations.
• Experience integrating with external APIs and building real-time, data-intensive features.
• Comfortable working across the stack in a fast-moving startup environment.

Responsibilities

• Own the mobile platform end-to-end, architecting, building, and shipping React Native app for iOS and Android.
• Build AI-powered mobile experiences that surface insights and enable real-time interactions.
• Establish mobile architecture, components, testing strategies, CI/CD pipelines, and performance standards.
• Integrate with social platform APIs (TikTok, Meta, Instagram) and Shopify.
• Collaborate with product, design, and founders to shape product and technical direction.
• Set high reliability and performance standards with monitoring and optimization.

Skills

React Native

Mobile development

API integration

CI/CD pipelines

Performance optimization

Ownership mindset

Tools

Shopify API

TikTok API

Meta/Instagram APIs

GoogleCloud/AWS

Job description

About Us

We're living through a fundamental shift in how people discover, evaluate, and purchase products. The next generation doesn't respond to traditional marketing -- they build relationships with brands through authentic social interactions, seek recommendations from communities they trust, and expect personalized experiences that feel human, not corporate.

At Nectar Social, we're building the AI-native social operating system that enables this new era of commerce. We believe every social interaction should deepen the relationship between brands and their communities while creating genuine value for both sides.

Founded by ex-Meta product and engineering leaders, we've raised over $30M in total capital from investors including GV and True Ventures. We work with brands like Oura Health, Caraway, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Kosas, OLIPOP, and many more. We're building the future of social commerce -- where community, conversation, and commerce converge.

The Role

We're looking for a Founding Mobile Engineer to own and define the mobile experience at Nectar. You'll architect and build the mobile platform from the ground up, making foundational technical decisions that shape how we deliver AI-powered social commerce to brand teams.

This is a highly autonomous role with direct influence over product direction and engineering standards. You'll work closely with product, design, and leadership to ship features that bring Nectar's AI capabilities directly into the hands of customers.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own the mobile platform end-to-end, architecting, building, and shipping our React Native application across iOS and Android

• Build AI-powered mobile experiences that surface insights, power real-time agent interactions, and bring Nectar's AI capabilities to mobile

• Establish mobile architecture patterns, shared components, testing strategies, CI/CD pipelines, and performance standards

• Integrate with social platform APIs such as TikTok, Meta, and Instagram, as well as e-commerce systems like Shopify

• Collaborate closely with product, design, and founders to shape both the product experience and technical implementation

• Set a high bar for reliability and performance through monitoring, error tracking, and optimization

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise in React Native

• Proven track record of shipping high-quality production mobile applications

• Strong understanding of mobile architecture, navigation patterns, state management, and platform-specific considerations

• Experience integrating with external APIs and building real-time, data-intensive features

• Comfortable working across the stack when needed in a fast-moving startup environment

• High ownership mindset with a bias toward action and comfort operating in ambiguity

• Strong product intuition and interest in shaping what gets built, not just how it gets built

Bonus Points

• Experience with native iOS or Android development or bridging native modules

• Background in social media platforms, e-commerce systems, or commerce infrastructure

• Experience working with LLMs, AI agents, or machine learning-powered features in production

• Previous founding or early-stage startup experience

• Open-source contributions or notable side projects

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation and early equity

• Health, vision, and dental benefits + 401(k) match

• ClassPass membership for fitness and wellness classes

• $50/month mobile stipend for all employees, and $50/month internet stipend for remote employees

For our Palo Alto Office:

• Hybrid schedule: 4 days in office, plus 3 remote flex days per quarter (after your first 3 months)

• Free lunch in the heart of University Ave. in Palo Alto

• $1,000/month housing stipend for living near the office

• Fully paid for commuter benefits (train stipend or Palo Alto parking reimbursement)