Experienced React Native Engineer for Skill-Gaming Platform

Summary I'm building Artcade, a patent-pending peer-judged creative skill-gaming platform where people compete in drawing, photo, and writing contests, in 31-player cohorts, for real-money prizes. The mission is simple: incentivize imagination. The whole experience is generally built with AI prototyping. React/TypeScript, every screen from game selection through voting, results, wallet, and compliance. It was built fast and AI-native, and it's production-ish quality. Now I need a founding-level frontend/mobile engineer to help us on the last mile: convert it to a React Native iOS app and get a real build into TestFlight. That's the one thing that matters first. If you've shipped real mobile apps, you obsess over how a touch interface feels, and you're comfortable blending AI dev tools with strong engineering fundamentals, this role is for you. What You'll Do - Convert our React/TypeScript prototype into a React Native iOS app and get it live on TestFlight (the #1 priority. It unblocks everything downstream) - Stand up and manage TestFlight builds through a paced, compliance-gated cadence (build → cert gate → adjust → continue) - Own the drawing canvas end-to-end — multi-tool, touch optimization, responsiveness, performance. It's our signature surface and it has to feel great - Build the core game and voting flows (cohort fill, submission, the gated 5×6 → 5 → 1 voting flow, results) plus wallet, profile, progression, and responsible-gaming screens - Bring a real point of view on animation, transitions, and game feel — not just ship tickets - Use AI dev tools (Claude Code, Codex, similar) to move fast, and help systematize what works - Collaborate directly on product direction — this is a founding seat, not a ticket queue Ideal Candidate Experience - React Native Engineer (5+ years) with shipped mobile apps. - Real apps live on TestFlight / the App Store — React Native and/or native iOS (Swift/SwiftUI), not web-with-a-responsive-layout. - Strong React / TypeScript experience helpful. - UX craft on interactive, canvas, or touch-heavy surfaces. Mobile Expertise - React Native (Expo / bare workflow) and the iOS build + TestFlight pipeline - Touch handling, gesture systems, and 60fps performance on device - Animation depth — Framer Motion, Reanimated, or SwiftUI animation Craft & Canvas - Canvas / graphics / drawing-tool experience (Canvas API, WebGL, custom rendering) - A portfolio piece that's interactive and feels good to use — show us something you made - An eye for game feel, transitions, and micro-interactions AI-Native Builder Profile (Must-Have Mindset) - You've recently vibe-coded and are comfortable with AI dev tools like Claude Code, Codex, Droid - You blend AI output with your own logic and refactors — fluent, not dependent - You think of AI as a collaborator that lets a small team ship like a big one - You love testing new workflows and systematizing what actually works Highly Valuable - Mobile game experience — especially drawing / creative tools / rich touch interaction - Skill gaming, iGaming, or real-money gaming background (Skillz, Big Run, PrizePicks, etc.) - Real-time UX (WebSocket waiting rooms, live game state) - Design-fluent enough to pair tightly with a brand designer Soft Skills & Mindset - Operates like a founder — autonomous, pragmatic, fast - Runs from a prototype and a POV, doesn't wait for pixel-perfect specs - Communicates clearly and async-friendly - Comfortable with a paced, gated start-stop rhythm (the cert cadence is part of the job) - Cares how things feel, not just whether they work What You'll Get - A founding frontend seat on a product that's already built and ready to ship - Direct collaboration with the CTO on architecture and the CEO on product - 1099 contract-to-hire to start, converting to a full-time early-employee seat with equity on mutual fit - Real ownership of the surface users touch most — the draw tool is yours - The chance to define how an entire creative-gaming product feels on mobile Our Mission - We're building creative skill gaming that rewards imagination with real prizes. - The product is built. The job is to make it real on mobile, and make it feel incredible. - If you've shipped mobile apps you're proud of, you sweat the details of touch and motion, and you want to own a signature surface from day one, you'll fit right in. Note - This is U.S.-based and work-authorized (1099 → W-2 path). Rate is $50-70/hr depending on experience, negotiable up for strong mobile-game or drawing-tool backgrounds. We'll start with a short paid sprint on the actual codebase to align on pace and quality, then scale from there. Looking forward to building together.