Lead Software Engineer (Mobile/App)
Searce Inc · Manila, National Capital Region, Philippines
Tailor my CV for this job — freeLead Software Engineer (Mobile/App)A Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) for turning ambiguous business problems into production-grade, AI-native software and owning the outcomes it delivers.About the jobYour Mission: The Rolesolving for better.Most engineering teams ship features. This one is accountable for what the software changes for the client once it is live: a number they can baseline at the start and verify at the end.We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer with deep mobile expertise. Someone who still writes Swift or Kotlin every day, is comfortable working across backend services, APIs, and cloud infrastructure when the product needs it, and can lead a small teamThis is a hands-on lead role. You will architect, code, review, and mentor in the same week. You will sit with the client, turn a business goal into working software, and own the outcome.What you will doLead the end-to-end design and build of native mobile apps (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android) that ship to real users, while writing production code yourself.Own the team’s technical decisions: architecture, trade-offs, and what to build now versus later.Contribute across the stack when the product needs it: backend microservices (Node.js, Python, Go, Java), web front ends (React, Angular, Vue), and REST/gRPC APIs.Deploy stateless, loosely coupled services on GCP or AWS (Cloud Run, Lambda, ECS).Use AI coding tools in your daily workflow and build AI features into apps where they change something for the user.Mentor junior and mid-level engineers. Run code reviews. Set the team’s bar for testing, secure coding (OWASP), and CI/CD, and keep raising it.Be the client’s technical partner: listen, explain decisions in plain terms, manage expectations, and tie each engineering choice to what the client is trying to change.Build reusable components and libraries so the next project starts further ahead.Functional SkillsThe Technical Owner: owns the design from first sketch to production. Breaks ambiguous business goals into clear technical decisions, makes the hard calls early, and lives with the consequences.The Player-Coach: leads from the front by writing exemplary code and raises the skill of everyone around you. Your success is measured by the team’s output, not only your own.The Pragmatic Innovator: uses new tools where they add value and picks stable, proven ones when a deadline or maintainability says so.The Client-Facing Technologist: the bridge between the squad and the client. Builds trust by listening, explaining complex things simply, and showing how engineering decisions serve the client’s goals.The Quality Craftsperson: treats software as a craft. Sets and holds the team’s standards for testing, secure coding, and clean, maintainable code.ExperienceAround 5 to 8 years in professional software engineering, with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related STEM field.Mobile Depth: Strong in Swift (iOS) or Kotlin (Android), with apps you have taken all the way to real users. You can point to what you shipped and what it did.Software Engineering Foundation: Solid end-to-end product engineering experience, with recent hands-on work. You have written and shipped production code in the last 18 months, not just reviewed it.Beyond One Platform: You are not boxed into a single stack. Alongside your primary mobile platform, you have worked on the other one, on backend services, or on web front ends.AI in the Workflow: AI coding tools are part of how you work every day, or you have built AI features into apps users rely on.Technical Leadership: You have owned features or led a small team as the technical lead. You know what it takes to set direction and still carry your share of the build.Client Acumen: Direct experience working with clients or business stakeholders. You translate what they need into what gets built and manage expectations along the way.Cloud Delivery: Hands-on experience designing, building, and deploying on at least one of AWS, GCP, or Azure.Business Impact: A track record of solving hard problems and delivering results the business could measure, with a portfolio to back it up.This is not for everyone. But if you look at how an app is built, question why, and can name three better ways to do it, let’s talk.