Senior React Native / Expo Engineer — Consumer Spirits App (25–35 hrs/week, Long-Term)

We're building the social platform for whiskey and spirits enthusiasts — think Untappd for the whiskey world.

Three-sided marketplace connecting consumers, brands, and venues.

Live in the App Store, real users, real momentum, and a Nashville restaurant group with 10 locations backing it.

This isn't a spec project.

It's a funded product that needs its first dedicated senior engineer.

We're looking for someone who can own the technical execution across our React Native/Expo mobile app and AWS backend — not just write code, but make architectural decisions, evaluate build-vs-buy trade-offs, and help shape the product roadmap.

You'd be working directly with the head of product and commercial strategy (me) and the founding team.

No layers of project managers.

No Jira ticket factories. • *What you'd be doing immediately:** - PostHog SDK instrumentation (behavioral analytics) - Customer.io SDK integration for lifecycle messaging - Investigating and resolving a persistent crash bugs - Cognito authentication fixes

You know the difference between expo eject and expo prebuild without thinking about it. - Real AWS experience — not just tutorials.

AppSync subscriptions, Cognito auth flows, Lambda functions, DynamoDB modeling. - Strong instinct for buy-over-build.

We want someone who reaches for SDKs and proven services before writing custom infrastructure.

If your first impulse when you need push notifications is to build your own system, we're not a fit. - Comfort working autonomously.

You'll get clear priorities and context, not pixel-perfect specs for every screen.

We need someone who asks the right questions and moves. - US or Canada based, or reliably available during US business hours (Central/Eastern overlap preferred). • *Nice-to-haves that would genuinely excite us:** - You actually drink whiskey.

Or bourbon.

Or mezcal.

Or you're the person your friends text when they're staring at a bottle shop shelf.

We're building a product for a community we're part of — it makes a real difference when the engineer cares about what we're making, not just how it's made. - AI tooling fluency — you use Cursor, Copilot, Claude, or similar tools as a natural part of your workflow and it shows in your output. - Experience with consumer mobile apps where engagement, retention, and conversion actually matter (not enterprise B2B tools). - You've integrated analytics or marketing SDKs into a React Native app before. - Stream Chat or Activity Feed SDK experience. • *The engagement:** - 25–35 hours/week to start - Long-term — this is a role, not a project.

We're replacing an agency relationship with a dedicated senior person. - Rate: $100–150/hour depending on experience and location.

We'll pay fairly for genuine senior talent. • *To apply, skip the generic cover letter and tell us:** 1.

One React Native / Expo app you shipped that you're proud of, and one architectural decision you'd make differently if you did it again. 2.

Your experience with AWS Amplify/AppSync specifically — even if it's limited, be honest about it.

We'd rather hear "I've done raw AWS but not Amplify" than a padded answer. 3.

What's in your glass right now? (Okay, this one's optional.

But if you have a go-to pour, we want to hear it.)