Founding Mobile Engineer
About Parrot
Parrot is building the TikTok for language learning: real native videos, interactive subtitles, and AI-generated activities that help people learn the same way they learned their first language. We believe in immersion-first learning, grounded in second-language acquisition research and comprehensible input. Our goal is to make learning natural, fun, and effective, powered by real content, not artificial drills. We launched in February 2025, already have thousands of active users, are backed by Y Combinator, and are now hiring our first Founding Mobile Engineer to join the core team and help us scale to millions of learners.
Why This Role Matters
Engineering at Parrot is not just about implementing tickets. It is core to how the product feels, performs, and grows. As Our Founding Mobile Engineer, You Will:
- Own the mobile product experience from idea to App Store
- Build beautiful, fluid, interactive experiences that feel magical
- Work directly with the founders to shape product direction
- Push the limits of React Native, Swift, video, animation, and AI-assisted development
- Set the technical standard for our mobile app and future engineering team
What You’ll Work On
You Will Work Across The Full Product Lifecycle:
- Create and ship mobile features from concept to production
- Create polished, high-performance interactions, animations, and video experiences
- Profile, debug, and optimize the app so key interactions feel smooth at 60fps
- Partner with the founders on product decisions, not just implementation
- Test ruthlessly and catch bugs before users do
- Trace issues through the stack when they slip through
- Use AI tools to move faster, explore ideas, and increase your output
What We’re Looking For
We’re looking for an engineer who combines strong frontend craft with serious technical depth and cares deeply about building a consumer product that feels incredible. Core Strengths:
- 2+ years building and shipping mobile apps professionally
- Strong React Native experience
- iOS experience strongly preferred
- Deep love for frontend craft, including animation, transitions, scroll feel, and UX details
- Strong TypeScript skills
- Comfort working with native iOS code when needed
- Strong testing instincts
- Ability to ship quickly without shipping broken
- High ownership in a fast-moving environment
The Kind of Engineer Who Thrives Here
You Likely:
- Have built something you’re proud of
- Care deeply about craft
- Move fast and learn faster
- Are low-ego and high-output
- Like working directly with users, founders, and product decisions
- Want meaningful ownership in an early-stage company
- Are excited by AI-native engineering
- Want to help define the technical culture of a company from the beginning
About Parrot
Ground-floor role: you would be our first engineering hire
Backed by Y Combinator
Thousands of active users and growing fast
AI-native team with unlimited tokens and agents in the workflow
In-person team in San Francisco
$180K to $220K base salary
0.5% to 2.0% equity depending on experience