iOS Engineer (Senior-Staff Levels)

As an iOS Engineer at Cantina Labs, you'll lead the development of innovative, high-performance features on our flagship social AI platform. Working closely with Product Managers, Designers, and company leadership, you'll influence product direction, move quickly to deliver impactful updates, and bring your ideas to life. You'll craft personalized feeds, immersive custom UIs, and AI-driven capabilities including chatting, text-to-speech, voice selection, image creation, and real-time media effects.

What you'll do

• Work with frameworks and technologies including UIKit, AVFoundation, Combine, and Core Animation.
• Lead development of new AI and media-driven features.
• Build and optimize video and audio pipelines, real-time media effects, and AI-powered visual features.
• Participate in architecture meetings to ensure the app meets the highest quality standards.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, and QA teams to deliver polished, scalable experiences.
• Take ownership of features as part of a small team shipping to a large user base.
• Contribute to an environment that values feedback and supports career growth.

What you bring

• 8+ years of experience developing iOS applications, or equivalent education.
• Fluency in Swift, UIKit, and Objective-C, with a strong foundation in custom graphics and animation frameworks.
• Ability to write readable, maintainable, documented, and thoroughly tested code.
• Experience developing integrations with RESTful APIs.
• Proficiency with Git and version control workflows.
• Basic understanding of Figma, with the ability to determine spacing and sizing.
• Ability to effectively translate Product, UX, and UI requirements into code.
• Skill at evaluating and communicating engineering solutions and trade-offs to teammates and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to create scalable and reusable components that are flexible and modular.
• Attention to detail, motion, and animation.

Nice to have

• Experience with video editing, real-time media effects, or AI-driven media features.
• Ability to export icons in Figma and understand variables.

What we offer

• Annual base salary of $180,000-$240,000, depending on skills, experience, job scope, location, and market data.
• Generous company equity.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with 99.99% of premiums covered by Cantina.
• 42 days of paid time off, comprising 15 PTO days, 10 sick days, 15 company holidays, and 2 floating holidays.
• Generous parental leave and fertility support.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan.
• Lifestyle spending account of $500 per month.
• Complimentary lunch and snacks for in-office employees.
• One Medical membership.

About Cantina Labs

Cantina Labs is a social AI company developing advanced real-time models that power personalized, expressive AI characters and platforms. The flagship Cantina platform empowers people to tell stories, connect, and create through AI-driven social experiences.