Principal Software Engineer, React Native

Job summary

Lead the architecture and hands-on development of Otto’s React Native and Expo apps for iOS and Android, including real-time AI conversations, device onboarding, connected services, and approvals. Own mobile reliability, performance, debugging, and release quality while guiding technical decisions, mentoring engineers, and improving development practices.

Job details

Otto is building a personal AI assistant that runs on a dedicated device and connects to the apps people use every day. Our mobile and desktop apps bring that assistant to users through real-time conversations, connected services, and clear controls over its actions. We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer to own the technical direction and hands-on development of our React Native mobile experience. This is an individual contributor role for someone who combines architectural judgment with strong product instincts. You’ll write production code, solve difficult mobile problems, and help the team ship a polished, reliable app. What you’ll do - Lead the architecture and development of our React Native and Expo app across iOS and Android. - Build responsive experiences for streaming AI conversations, device onboarding, connected apps, and approvals. - Design reliable approaches to real-time connections, state synchronization, reconnects, and interrupted user journeys. - Work across JavaScript and native platform boundaries, including Bluetooth, authentication, deep links, and push notifications. - Partner closely with design to deliver accessible interfaces with thoughtful interaction details. - Own mobile performance, production debugging, and release quality. - Improve testing, developer tooling, and engineering practices where they meaningfully improve reliability and delivery. - Guide technical decisions and mentor engineers while remaining deeply involved in implementation. What you’ll bring - Deep experience shipping and maintaining production React Native applications on both iOS and Android. - Experience operating at a principal, staff, lead, or equivalent level, with ownership of significant architectural decisions. - Strong TypeScript and React fundamentals, including rendering behavior, state management, and performance. - Confidence debugging native mobile issues and working with iOS and Android tooling. - A strong understanding of asynchronous systems, networking, and the mobile application lifecycle. - Evidence of owning apps beyond launch: diagnosing failures, improving reliability, and evolving the architecture. - Strong product judgment, attention to interaction quality, and clear communication. Helpful experience - Expo and Expo Router. - Bluetooth provisioning or connected hardware. - WebSockets, streaming interfaces, and real-time synchronization. - Secure messaging and end-to-end encryption. - Shared mobile and web codebases. - Consumer products and early-stage engineering teams. Our stack React Native, Expo, Expo Router, TypeScript, React Query, and tRPC. Our apps communicate through a cloud relay with a Node.js device runtime. An Electron desktop app shares the web experience. Why Otto You’ll make foundational decisions across a product that connects mobile, desktop, cloud, and hardware. Your work will directly shape how reliably people can communicate with and use their personal AI assistant. How to apply Share your résumé or LinkedIn profile and a mobile product you helped ship. Tell us what you owned and describe a difficult technical decision, its tradeoffs, and the outcome.

What you’ll do

Lead the architecture and hands-on development of Otto’s React Native and Expo apps for iOS and Android, including real-time AI conversations, device onboarding, connected services, and approvals. Own mobile reliability, performance, debugging, and release quality while guiding technical decisions, mentoring engineers, and improving development practices.

Requirements

Requires extensive experience shipping and maintaining production React Native apps on both iOS and Android, with principal-, staff-, lead-, or equivalent-level ownership of architectural decisions. Candidates should have strong TypeScript and React fundamentals, native mobile debugging skills, knowledge of asynchronous systems and app lifecycles, and a track record of improving products after launch.

Listed skills

• React · Preferred
• TypeScript · Preferred

Other relevant skills

Identified from the job description. Confirm important requirements above.

• React Native
• Expo
• TypeScript
• React
• Mobile Architecture
• iOS
• Android
• Mobile Performance
• State Management
• Real-Time Systems
• Networking
• Bluetooth
• Authentication
• Deep Links
• Push Notifications
• Technical Mentorship

Job areas

• Software
• Technology
• Engineering
• Management & Leadership

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