Senior iOS Engineer

Location: Auckland, NZ (Hybrid - 3 days/week in office)

Type: Full-time

Company: Emerge (and SquareOne)

About Emerge

We're building New Zealand's first challenger bank, shaking up a sector dominated by the same players for centuries. At Emerge and SquareOne, we're all about empowering businesses and young Kiwis with financial tools that are simpler, smarter, and just work. Our mission? Redefine banking, by putting our customers first, driving financial capability, and moving at a pace traditional banks can only dream of.

We're not building a company; we're building a movement. At Emerge, you'll be part of a team that's rewriting the rules of finance. We don't have bureaucracy slowing us down – if you've got an idea, you'll be empowered to make it happen. We operate with relentless focus, high trust, and an unwavering belief in our mission. We move fast, break molds (but not laws!), and back our people to be exceptional. Plus, we're fun to work with – our culture blends hard work and big challenges with good times... We're exceptionally high in trust, autonomy and accountability, and galvanised into a team by a shared love for seeing bold ideas come to life.

The Opportunity

We're on the lookout for a superstar Senior iOS Engineer who excels in Swift and thrives in collaborative environments. In this role, you'll work across our two native iOS fintech projects, leveraging bleeding-edge Apple technologies like SwiftUI, Combine, and async/await, while collaborating with our in-house and external development teams. This position offers a clear growth path toward a lead role and the chance to make a significant impact on our mobile development future. You'll be instrumental in delivering innovation that's often NZ-first, sometimes Asia Pacific-first, and always on par with best of breed globally.

What You'll Do

• Work across our two native iOS fintech projects, contributing to core features and improvements.
• Apply demonstrated expertise in modern architectural patterns (MVVM-C, Clean Swift) and SOLID principles.
• Write testable code and maintain high test coverage across projects using XCTest.
• Utilize SwiftUI for building complex, adaptive user interfaces.
• Implement robust concurrency solutions using Swift's async/await and Combine framework.
• Collaborate effectively with in-house and external development teams.
• Contribute to shaping the mobile development future of Emerge and SquareOne.

• Mentor and uplift other engineers, sharing best practices and helping to grow the technical capabilities of the wider team.
• Collaborate closely with product and design to influence roadmaps and ensure mobile considerations are integrated early in the planning process.
• Champion mobile quality, promoting testing, observability, and security standards across applications.
• Drive innovation, particularly around automation and AI integration – spotting opportunities to use intelligent tools to enhance performance, reduce toil, or unlock new customer value.
• Continue on a clear growth path toward a lead role, making a significant impact on our mobile development future.

What We're Looking For (Must-Have Skills)

• Required Experience: 9+ years of iOS development experience with Swift, including demonstrated expertise in modern architectural patterns (MVVM-C, Clean Swift) and SOLID principles.
• SwiftUI Proficiency: Strong hands-on experience with SwiftUI for building complex, adaptive user interfaces.
• Concurrency Mastery: Expert-level understanding and practical experience with Swift's structured concurrency (async/await) and Combine framework.
• Testing Proficiency: Proven track record of writing robust unit and UI tests (XCTest) and maintaining high test coverage across projects.
• Team Collaboration: Experience mentoring developers and collaborating with cross-functional teams.
• Performance Optimization: Deep understanding of iOS performance optimization techniques (memory, CPU, battery) for large-scale applications.
• Security Best Practices: Strong knowledge of iOS security best practices (Keychain, biometric authentication, secure data storage) in a financial context.
• Continuous Learning: Commitment to staying current with bleeding-edge iOS development trends and emerging Apple technologies.

Ideal Qualities (Nice-to-Have Skills)

• Published apps on the App Store with significant user bases.
• Experience working in startup environments.
• Experience with Core ML or on-device AI/ML integration.
• Familiarity with modularization strategies and framework development in iOS.
• Expertise in iOS accessibility best practices.
• Bachelor's/Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience).

Career Growth

This role offers a clear growth path toward a lead role and the chance to make a significant impact on our mobile development future. Career growth is flexible, impactful, and shaped around your strengths, with opportunities to deepen technical mastery, move into architectural leadership for mobile, or take on people management. You'll own increasingly complex mobile systems and influence technical strategy, exploring new domains like AI integration or new iOS technologies.

Why Join Us?

• Build the Future of Banking: Be at the forefront of NZ's first challenger bank, shaping its iOS experience.
• High Impact & Autonomy: Make a significant, tangible difference on critical fintech projects with substantial freedom.
• Cutting-Edge Tech: Work with bleeding-edge iOS technologies like SwiftUI, Combine, and async/await.
• Clear Growth Path: A defined trajectory towards a lead role and mobile architectural influence.
• Dynamic Culture: Thrive in a high-trust, fast-moving environment with a focus on innovation and continuous learning.
• Equity Opportunity: Share directly in the success of a groundbreaking company.

How to Apply

If you're a resilient, honest, and capable Senior iOS Engineer who thrives on challenges and is excited about chasing ambitious targets, this could be the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you've been looking for. If you're in Auckland or willing to relocate, hit us up ASAP.