6 templates for small teams hiring their first or next mobile developer: cross-platform, native iOS and Android, senior, contract, maintenance, and junior. Download as DOCX.
Most mobile developer job descriptions online are written by companies with an engineering organization behind them. They assume a hiring manager who already knows the difference between Swift and Kotlin, a recruiter who can screen the stack, and a platform team that owns the release pipeline. If you are a founder or an operations lead at a small company, you have none of that, and you are the one writing the posting.
The awkward part is that mobile is where the gap between the posting and the job is widest. A generic developer template covers building features. It says nothing about shipping through two review queues, meeting store deadlines that make an app unpublishable when missed, or who owns the developer account the app lives under. Those are the parts that go wrong at small companies.
At FirstHR we write hiring templates for teams without a dedicated HR person. The six below cover a cross-platform hire, a native hire carrying both platforms, a senior owner, a contract build with a handover, a maintenance role, and a junior, each with the classification and ownership notes the generic versions leave out. Start from the hiring templates library if you need a different role.
TL;DR
A mobile developer builds and ships apps to the App Store and Google Play and keeps them compliant afterward. Decide the platform before writing the posting: cross-platform, native iOS, native Android, or both. Software developers earned a $135,980 median (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
Decide the Platform Before You Write the Posting
The platform decision comes first because it changes everything downstream: the candidate pool, the salary band, the maintenance load, and the shape of the job description itself. A posting that hedges across all four options reads as a company that has not decided, and strong candidates treat that as a warning.
The honest version of the decision is about what the app is for. If the app is a channel to your business, one cross-platform codebase and one developer is almost always right. If the app is the business, or if it leans hard on hardware and platform features, native starts to earn its cost.
One cross-platform codebase
React Native or Flutter
One hire, one codebase, both stores. The usual answer for a small business whose app is a channel rather than the product. You still need someone who can drop into native code when the shared layer runs out.
Native iOS only
Swift, one store
Right when your customers are overwhelmingly on iPhone, or the app leans on platform features that arrive on iOS first. Narrower posting, deeper stack, and a smaller candidate pool at the senior end.
Native Android only
Kotlin, one store
Right for hardware integrations, kiosk or field deployments, and audiences where Android dominates. Device fragmentation is the cost you sign up for, and it shows up in testing time, not in the job description.
Both native, one developer
The expensive middle
Possible, and common at small companies, but be honest in the posting: two codebases carried by one person ships about half the feature volume and never escapes the maintenance floor on either side.
Name the Stack You Run, Not the Stack You Admire
The most common defect in a small business mobile posting is a technology list assembled from candidate resumes: Swift, Kotlin, React Native, Flutter, Objective-C, Java, and four backend items, with no signal about which three the job actually uses. Candidates read that as a company that does not know its own system. Write down what your app is built in today, what it talks to, and what you want changed. Everything else comes out.
What a Mobile Developer Owns That a Web Developer Does Not
A mobile developer owns two things a web developer never touches: distribution through a review queue you do not control, and a platform release cycle that forces work onto your roadmap once a year whether you planned for it or not. Feature work is the part both roles share.
The market is substantial. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 1,693,800 people employed as software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers in 2024, projects that group to grow 15 percent through 2034, and expects about 129,200 openings a year over the decade. There is no separate federal occupation code for mobile developers, which is the first clue that generic salary advice will not fit this role.
Distribution is the difference that shows up first. A web fix is live when you deploy it. A mobile fix is live when the store approves it, then when users update, which for some of them is never. That reality belongs in the responsibilities section, not in a surprise conversation during the first outage.
What Belongs in a Mobile Developer Posting
A mobile developer job description does four jobs at once: it sells the work, it filters people who have never shipped, it protects the company legally, and it closes the candidate. Most small business postings do only the first. Here is the full inventory.
The parts developers read first
The stack, named exactly, not as a wish list
Which stores the app ships to
Whether the app is the product or supports it
Team size and who reviews the code
The parts that filter applicants
Shipped apps or a repository as an application requirement
Native module work, stated if it exists
Ownership of the release process, stated plainly
Years of experience as a range, not a hard gate
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification named on the posting
Store accounts registered to the company
Written IP assignment before the first commit
Equal opportunity statement
The parts that win the hire
Salary range in good faith
Real decision-making scope, described concretely
Device budget and paid store developer accounts
A named person and a fast decision timeline
The most useful thing you can add is an application requirement that gives you evidence: links to shipped apps, a repository, or a walkthrough of something the candidate owns. Mobile work is unusually public, and ten minutes in the stores tells you more than an hour of screening. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure in more depth.
6 Mobile Developer Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and ownership note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Mobile Developer Job Description Templates
Cross-platform, native iOS and Android, senior, contract, maintenance, and junior. All in one download.
Cross-Platform Mobile Developer
One codebase, both stores
The default posting for a small business: shared code, native modules where needed, and full ownership of the release train on both stores.
Native iOS and Android
Two codebases, one hire
For companies already running two native apps, with a scope honesty note you keep for yourself and a parity decision made in writing.
Senior / Lead Mobile Developer
Owns mobile outright
Architecture, platform strategy, release quality, and mentoring. The person you ask before committing a mobile feature to a roadmap.
Contract, Build and Handover
Version one with an end date
Milestones, deliverables, a runbook, and the contractor and copyright warnings that cost small companies the most when skipped.
Maintenance Developer
Keeps a shipped app alive
SDK deadlines, OS releases, certificate renewals, and a stated severity ladder. The role most companies discover a year after launch.
Junior Mobile Developer
Hiring for trajectory
Entry-level scope with review on every change, an explicit list of what you do not require, and the misclassification warning spelled out.
Template 1: Cross-Platform Mobile Developer
One codebase, both stores, with native module work stated as a real responsibility rather than an afterthought. This is the default posting for a small business whose app supports the product rather than being it.
Mobile Developer Job Description (Cross-Platform)
MOBILE DEVELOPER JOB DESCRIPTION (CROSS-PLATFORM)
Company: __ ([City, State] / Remote)
Reports to: [Founder / Head of Product / Engineering Lead]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (computer employee; confirm against the duties test)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] is a [industry] company in [City, State]. Our mobile app is
[the product / the way customers book, order, or track their account], and it
runs on both iOS and Android from a single [React Native / Flutter] codebase.
We are a team of [number] and you would be [our first mobile hire / joining
[number] other engineers].
POSITION SUMMARY
The Mobile Developer builds and ships features in our [React Native / Flutter]
app to both the App Store and Google Play, keeps both builds current with
platform requirements, and owns the release process end to end.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Build features in [React Native / Flutter] that ship to iOS and Android
•Write the native module or platform-specific code the shared layer cannot
cover ([Swift / Kotlin], typically for [push, camera, payments, background])
•Integrate our [REST / GraphQL] API and handle offline and poor-network states
•Own the release train: build, sign, submit, respond to review, and stage the
rollout on both stores
•Keep the app current with each OS release and each mandatory SDK deadline
•Monitor crash rate, startup time, and store ratings, and fix what regresses
•Write tests at the level we agree is worth the cost, and review code
•Keep the privacy disclosures on both store listings accurate
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years building and shipping mobile apps
•Production experience with [React Native / Flutter], including at least one
app you took through review on both stores
•Working knowledge of at least one native stack ([Swift and SwiftUI / UIKit] or
[Kotlin and Jetpack Compose])
•Comfortable with the full release process, not only feature work
•Links to shipped apps, a repository, or a walkthrough of work you own
NICE TO HAVE
•[TypeScript / Dart] depth, [CI for mobile builds], [Fastlane or equivalent]
•Experience with [analytics, A/B testing, in-app purchase, deep linking]
•Backend or API experience for a small team where the lines blur
CLASSIFICATION AND OWNERSHIP NOTE (read before posting)
A mobile developer whose primary duty is the design, development, testing, or
modification of software generally qualifies for the FLSA computer employee
exemption when paid at least $684 per week on a salary or fee basis, or at least
$27.63 per hour. The exemption turns on duties, not the title. The store
accounts belong to the company: the Apple Developer Program enrollment and the
Google Play Console account must be registered to the business, with the
developer added as a team member. Signing certificates, keystores, and
provisioning profiles are company property and get handed back at offboarding.
Put a written IP assignment in place before the first commit. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [equity], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with links to apps you have shipped.
Template 2: Mobile Developer, Native iOS and Android
For companies already running two native apps and hiring one person to carry both. If you would rather hire a specialist for one platform, use the iOS developer templates or the Android developer templates instead.
Mobile Developer Job Description (Native iOS and Android)
MOBILE DEVELOPER JOB DESCRIPTION (NATIVE iOS AND ANDROID)
Company: __ ([City, State] / Remote)
Reports to: [Founder / Head of Product / Engineering Lead]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (computer employee; confirm against the duties test)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] maintains two native apps, one in [Swift] and one in [Kotlin],
serving [audience]. We are hiring one developer to carry both. That is a real
constraint and we would rather say it up front than surprise you in week two.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Mobile Developer builds and maintains our native iOS and Android apps,
keeps feature parity between them at the level we agree on, and takes both
through store review.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Build features in [Swift and SwiftUI / UIKit] for iOS
•Build the matching features in [Kotlin and Jetpack Compose] for Android
•Decide, with product, where the two platforms should differ and where parity
matters enough to pay for
•Integrate our API and handle authentication, offline behavior, and sync
•Own submissions, review responses, and staged rollouts on both stores
•Track and act on each OS release and each store policy deadline
•Watch crash rate, ANR rate, and store reviews, and fix the top offenders
•Keep both store listings, screenshots, and privacy disclosures current
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years of native mobile development covering both platforms
•Shipped and maintained at least one app on each store
•Fluent in [Swift] and [Kotlin], and comfortable moving between them daily
•Experience with the review process on both stores, including a rejection you
had to argue or fix
•A portfolio, repository, or shipped apps we can look at
NICE TO HAVE
•[Cross-platform experience] if we later consolidate the codebases
•[CI for mobile builds], automated screenshots, release automation
•Accessibility work on either platform
SCOPE HONESTY NOTE (delete before posting, keep for yourself)
One developer covering two native codebases ships roughly half the feature
volume of two specialists, and the maintenance floor never goes away: each OS
release, each store policy change, each SDK deprecation costs time on both
sides. Hire for this deliberately, set the roadmap accordingly, and revisit the
decision when the app becomes the product rather than a channel.
CLASSIFICATION AND OWNERSHIP NOTE
A developer whose primary duty is software design, development, testing, or
modification generally meets the FLSA computer employee exemption when paid at
least $684 per week on a salary or fee basis, or at least $27.63 per hour.
Register the Apple Developer Program enrollment and the Google Play Console
account to the company, not to the developer, and keep signing keys, keystores,
and certificates in company custody. Sign an IP assignment before work starts.
This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [equity], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with links to shipped apps.
Still Using Spreadsheets for Onboarding?
Automate documents, training assignments, task management, and track onboarding progress in real time.
For the person who owns mobile outright: architecture, platform strategy, release quality, and mentoring. Use this when mobile is important enough that someone has to be able to say no to a roadmap item and explain why.
Senior / Lead Mobile Developer Job Description
SENIOR / LEAD MOBILE DEVELOPER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State] / Remote)
Reports to: [Founder / CTO / VP Engineering]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (computer employee)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] is hiring a senior mobile developer to own the mobile side of the
product outright: architecture, release process, platform strategy, and the
technical decisions nobody else on the team is equipped to make. You will be the
person we ask before we commit to a mobile feature on a roadmap.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Senior Mobile Developer sets the architecture for our mobile apps, ships
the hardest features personally, owns the release and quality process on both
stores, and raises the level of everyone else who touches mobile code.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own mobile architecture: [state management, navigation, module boundaries,
offline strategy, native and shared code split]
•Ship the features that require the most judgment, not only the most typing
•Own the release process on both stores and the quality bar that gates it
•Decide the platform strategy: native, cross-platform, or a mix, and defend it
with a cost and a timeline rather than a preference
•Set the deprecation and OS support policy and hold the team to it
•Review code, mentor [number] engineers, and write the standards down
•Sit in product planning early enough to change what gets committed
•Own the store relationship: review escalations, policy compliance, listings
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] plus years in mobile development with production ownership
•Apps you architected, shipped, and then maintained through at least [number]
major OS releases
•Depth in at least one native stack plus working knowledge of the other, or
deep cross-platform experience with real native module work
•Demonstrated ownership of a release process, not just participation in one
•Experience mentoring engineers or leading a small team
NICE TO HAVE
•Experience migrating a codebase between approaches, in either direction
•App performance work with measured before and after numbers
•Security or compliance work relevant to [our industry]
CLASSIFICATION AND OWNERSHIP NOTE
Senior individual contributors and hands-on leads are generally exempt computer
employees under the FLSA when the duties test is met. Adding lead duties does
not change the analysis in either direction; the primary duty does. Register all
store accounts to the company, keep signing material in company custody with a
documented recovery path, and have the IP assignment signed before the first
commit. If this person will be your only mobile developer, write down the
handover requirements now rather than at the exit interview. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [equity], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with a short note on a mobile
architecture decision you made and what it cost.
Template 4: Contract Mobile Developer, Build and Handover
For a defined version one with milestones, a runbook, and an end date. The classification note is the important part: it covers both the contractor control test and the copyright assignment that custom software needs in writing.
Contract Mobile Developer Job Description (Build and Handover)
CONTRACT MOBILE DEVELOPER JOB DESCRIPTION (BUILD AND HANDOVER)
Company: __ ([City, State] / Remote)
Engaged by: [Founder / Head of Product]
Engagement type: Independent contractor, [fixed scope / time and materials]
Classification: Independent contractor (see the classification note)
Rate: $_ per hour, or $_ for the defined scope
ABOUT THIS ENGAGEMENT
[Company Name] needs version one of a mobile app for [purpose] built, shipped to
[both stores / the App Store / Google Play], and handed over cleanly to us. This
is a defined project with a start, a scope, and an end, not an open-ended role.
•Integrate [our API / this third-party service / this payment provider]
•Submit to [store list] under our developer accounts and clear review
•Deliver source code in our repository, with a README that lets another
developer build and release it without contacting you
•Deliver a runbook covering build, signing, release, and known limitations
•[Number] weeks of post-launch fixes for defects in the delivered scope
DELIVERABLES AND MILESTONES
•Milestone 1: [technical plan and architecture summary] by [date]
•Milestone 2: [internal build with core flow working] by [date]
•Milestone 3: [store submission] by [date]
•Milestone 4: [approved and live, handover documents delivered] by [date]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Shipped apps of comparable scope that we can look at and, ideally, install
•Experience clearing store review, including at least one rejection resolved
•Willingness to work in our repository and our store accounts, not your own
•Clear written communication on a [weekly] cadence
CLASSIFICATION AND OWNERSHIP NOTE (read carefully)
Contractor status is decided by the actual working relationship, not by the
label on the agreement. A worker whose schedule, tools, methods, and priorities
you control looks like an employee to the Department of Labor and to the IRS,
whatever the contract says. Keep a genuine contractor genuinely independent:
defined deliverables, their own equipment, their own hours, no reporting into
your management chain. On ownership, work by an independent contractor is not
automatically a work made for hire, and custom software does not sit comfortably
in the categories that qualify, so a signed written assignment of copyright is
required before work begins, not at the end. Build the app inside your own store
accounts and repository from day one. Issue Form 1099-NEC where the reporting
threshold is met. This is general information, not legal advice.
HOW TO APPLY
Email __ with links to shipped apps, your rate, and your
availability window.
Template 5: Mobile App Maintenance Developer
For a live app that needs to stay compliant, stay in the stores, and stay fixed, with a stated severity ladder and a release cadence. Most companies discover they need this role about a year after launch.
Mobile App Maintenance Developer Job Description
MOBILE APP MAINTENANCE DEVELOPER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State] / Remote)
Reports to: [Operations Lead / Head of Product / Founder]
FLSA status: Exempt if the duties test is met; otherwise non-exempt (see note)
Compensation: $_ per [year / hour / month retainer]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] already has a live app on [both stores / the App Store / Google
Play] with [number] users. We are not building version two. We need the app to
stay compliant, stay in the stores, stay fast, and stay fixed. This is the role
most small companies discover they needed about a year after launch.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Mobile App Maintenance Developer keeps our shipped app healthy: dependency
and SDK updates, OS compatibility, store policy compliance, defect fixes, and
small improvements, on a predictable cadence.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Ship a maintenance release every [month / quarter], on schedule
•Update the target SDK and dependencies before each store deadline
•Test and fix against each new [iOS / Android] release, including the betas
•Keep privacy disclosures, permissions, and store listing metadata accurate
•Triage crashes and user-reported defects against an agreed severity ladder
•Renew certificates and provisioning material before expiry, not after
•Respond to store review rejections and policy notices
•Keep the build, signing, and release runbook current and usable by someone
who is not you
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years of mobile development, including work on code you did not write
•Comfortable reading an unfamiliar codebase and shipping a safe change
•Experience with the store review process and its policy deadlines
•Working knowledge of [our stack: React Native / Flutter / Swift / Kotlin]
•Reliable, scheduled availability rather than heroic availability
SERVICE EXPECTATIONS (adjust and state these in the posting)
•Critical defect (app will not launch, payment broken): response within [hours]
•Major defect (core flow broken for some users): fix in the next [days] release
•Minor defect: bundled into the next scheduled maintenance release
•Store policy deadline: handled at least [weeks] before the cutoff
CLASSIFICATION NOTE
If the primary duty is genuine software development, testing, and modification,
the FLSA computer employee exemption is generally available at $684 per week on
a salary or fee basis or $27.63 per hour. If the role drifts into device
support, help desk work, or store account administration, the exemption is not
available and the role is non-exempt: track hours and pay overtime past forty in
a week. Decide on the real day, not the title. If you engage this person on a
retainer as a contractor, the same control test applies as for any contractor,
and a recurring retainer with set hours starts to look like employment. This is
general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per [year / hour / month], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with an example of an app you kept alive
that someone else built.
Template 6: Junior Mobile Developer
Entry-level scope with review on every change and an explicit list of what you do not require. Pair it with a real onboarding plan, because a junior hire without one becomes an expensive way to learn patience. Our developer onboarding guide covers the first ninety days.
Junior Mobile Developer Job Description (Entry-Level)
JUNIOR MOBILE DEVELOPER JOB DESCRIPTION (ENTRY-LEVEL)
Company: __ ([City, State] / Remote / Hybrid)
Reports to: [Senior Mobile Developer / Engineering Lead]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt if both the duties and compensation tests are met (see note)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] is hiring a junior mobile developer to work alongside [name or
role] on our [React Native / Flutter / native] app. We are hiring for
trajectory, not for a checklist of years. You will ship real code to real users
in your first [weeks], with review and support.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Junior Mobile Developer builds and fixes scoped features under review,
learns our codebase and our release process, and grows into owning larger pieces
of the app.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Build scoped features and fix defects with code review on every change
•Write and update tests for the code you touch
•Learn the release process by running it with supervision, then alone
•Reproduce and triage user-reported issues from [support channel]
•Keep documentation current as you learn what is missing from it
•Ask questions early rather than spending three days stuck quietly
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Evidence you can build something: a personal app, a bootcamp project, a
degree project, an internship, or open source contributions
•Working knowledge of [Swift / Kotlin / JavaScript and React Native / Dart]
•Understanding of version control and a willingness to work in a team codebase
•Clear written communication
WHAT WE DO NOT REQUIRE
•A computer science degree
•A published app on either store
•Years of professional experience
CLASSIFICATION NOTE
Junior developers are the roles most likely to be misclassified. The FLSA
computer employee exemption requires both the duties test and pay of at least
$684 per week on a salary or fee basis, or $27.63 per hour. A junior whose day
is genuinely software development and who clears that pay floor is generally
exempt. A junior doing device setup, manual testing scripts, or support work is
not, regardless of the job title, and must be paid overtime past forty hours in
a week. Unpaid internships at a for-profit company are governed by the
Department of Labor primary beneficiary test and rarely survive it when the
company gets the benefit of the work. Pay your juniors. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with anything you have built, however
small, and a sentence on what was hard about it.
Native, Cross-Platform, or Both
Cross-platform buys you one codebase and one hire at the cost of a ceiling on platform capability. Native buys you the full platform at the cost of a second codebase, and often a second developer. For a small company the deciding question is whether the app is the product or a channel to it.
Approach
What you are hiring for
Where it costs you
Cross-platform, React Native
A JavaScript or TypeScript developer with real native module experience
Native work still surfaces for push, payments, camera, and background tasks
Cross-platform, Flutter
A Dart developer comfortable with platform channels
Smaller local candidate pool in most markets than React Native
Native iOS only
A Swift developer with App Store review experience
No Android presence until you hire again or rebuild
Native Android only
A Kotlin developer comfortable with device fragmentation
Testing surface is wider, which shows up as time rather than as salary
Both native, one developer
A rare generalist fluent in Swift and Kotlin
Roughly half the feature volume of two specialists, with the full maintenance load
Both native, two developers
Two specialists plus someone to keep parity decisions honest
Two salaries, and parity debates that need a product owner to settle
Mobile web or a wrapped web app
A web developer, not a mobile developer
No offline story, limited platform features, and store review is still a risk
One caution on the last row. Wrapping a website in a shell and submitting it is a well-known way to fail store review, and it is worth knowing before you write a posting for a mobile developer when what you actually need is a web developer.
Store Accounts and App Ownership
The Apple Developer Program enrollment and the Google Play Console account must be registered to your company, not to the developer. This is a five-minute decision at the start of a project and a months-long problem afterward, and it is the single most expensive avoidable mistake in small business mobile hiring.
When an app is published under an individual account, the listing, the reviews, the ratings history, and the install base belong to that individual in the store’s eyes. Recovering them means a formal transfer process that requires the original account holder to cooperate, which is fine right up until the relationship ends badly.
Set Up the Accounts Before the Developer Starts
Enroll under the company legal entity, with a company email address and a company payment method, then add the developer as a team member with the access the role needs. Do the same for the repository, the CI system, and the crash reporting tool. Signing certificates, upload keys, keystores, and provisioning profiles are company property: store them where the company controls them, document the recovery path, and collect them at offboarding along with the laptop. A developer who objects to this arrangement is telling you something useful.
Overtime, Contractors, and Who Owns the Code
Most full-time mobile developers are exempt from overtime under the computer employee exemption, but the exemption requires both a duties test and a pay floor of $684 per week on a salary or fee basis, or $27.63 per hour. Both halves have to hold.
The rule sits in the federal regulation covering computer employees as exempt professionals, and the Department of Labor restates the same two-part test in Fact Sheet 17E. The duties half is what fails in practice: work that is highly dependent on computers but is not systems analysis, programming, or software design does not qualify, however senior the title reads.
The computer employee exemption has a floor and a duties test
Most full-time mobile developers are exempt from overtime under the computer employee exemption, but the exemption is conditional in a way many small employers miss. It requires pay of at least $684 per week on a salary or fee basis, or at least $27.63 per hour, and it requires a primary duty of systems analysis, or the design, development, documentation, testing, creation, or modification of computer programs. Both halves have to hold. Work that is highly dependent on computers but is not software development does not qualify, however senior the title reads: device configuration, manual test execution, store account administration, and help desk support all fall outside it. Classify the role on the day the person will actually have, and write the classification into the posting so the pay structure follows it. This is general information, not legal advice.
The store accounts belong to the company
This is the single most expensive mistake in small business mobile hiring, and it is entirely preventable. Enroll in the Apple Developer Program and open the Google Play Console account under the company legal entity, with a company email address and a company payment method, then add the developer as a team member with the access the job needs. When a developer publishes under a personal account instead, the app, the reviews, the ratings history, and the install base sit under someone else’s name, and getting them back means a store transfer process that requires that person's cooperation. Signing certificates, upload keys, keystores, and provisioning profiles are company property too. Store them somewhere the company controls, document the recovery path, and collect them at offboarding along with the laptop.
Contractor status is decided by the relationship, not the contract
Hiring a contractor to build version one is a completely reasonable choice for a small company, and the label on the agreement does not decide anything. If you set the schedule, direct the methods, supply the tools, and slot the person into your management chain, you are directing an employee and the Department of Labor and the IRS will read it that way, with back overtime, back taxes, and penalties attached. Keep a real contractor real: defined deliverables, their own equipment, their own hours, an end date. Ownership needs the same care, because work by an independent contractor is not automatically a work made for hire and custom software does not fit neatly into the categories that qualify, so get a written copyright assignment signed before work begins. This is general information, not legal advice.
The maintenance floor never goes to zero
A mobile app is not a website: you cannot ship a fix and have every user running it an hour later, and you cannot ignore the platform. Both stores set target SDK and API level deadlines that make apps unpublishable when missed, both ship a major OS release every year that breaks something, signing certificates and provisioning material expire on their own schedule, and privacy disclosures on both listings have to stay accurate as the app changes. That is real recurring work whether or not anyone is building features, and it is why a company with a live app and no mobile developer ends up with an app quietly failing review. Budget for it in the job description as a named responsibility with a cadence, or budget for it as a retainer, but do not budget for zero.
Anyone outside the exemption needs hours tracked and overtime paid past forty in a week. If you are unsure which side a role falls on, our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification works through both tests with examples.
What to Pay a Mobile Developer
There is no Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation for mobile developers specifically, so benchmark against software developers, occupation code 15-1252, then adjust for your market and the real scope of the role. The federal data covers the entire software developer population and skews toward large employers in expensive metros.
Software Developers, National Wage Ladder
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), software developers earned a national median of $135,980 per year, or $65.38 per hour. The annual ladder runs $82,460 at the 10th percentile, $105,210 at the 25th, $171,980 at the 75th, and $214,670 at the 90th (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
Benchmark occupation
National median (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
How it applies to a mobile hire
Software developers (15-1252)
$135,980 per year
The closest classification; mobile developers are counted here
Software developers, hourly
$65.38 per hour
The right reference when negotiating a contract rate
Software developers, 25th percentile
$105,210 per year
Realistic for a mid-level hire at a small business outside a tech metro
Software developers, 75th percentile
$171,980 per year
A senior developer owning mobile at a product company
Software QA analysts and testers (15-1253)
$104,300 per year
For a mobile role weighted toward release testing
Computer programmers (15-1251)
$100,390 per year
A reasonable floor for maintenance-only work on an existing app
Web developers (15-1254)
$92,650 per year
The benchmark if the job is really mobile web rather than an app
Treat the national median as a reference, not a price. A maintenance role on a shipped app and a senior role owning mobile architecture are different jobs and should carry different numbers. Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency laws apply, and compete on scope, autonomy, and decision speed rather than trying to outbid a large employer.
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Screening a Mobile Developer Without an Engineering Team
Screen on shipped evidence rather than on technology keywords. Mobile work is public in a way most software is not: ask for links to apps the candidate built, install two of them, and read the recent reviews and the update history. That takes ten minutes and separates people who ship from people who describe.
The second signal is maintenance, and it is the one small companies forget to ask about. Anyone can describe building a feature. Ask what happened after launch: which operating system release broke something, which store deadline they had to meet, what a rejection cost them, and how they got the app back into the store. Vague answers there predict exactly the problem you will have in month eight.
Signal
How to check it without a technical team
Has shipped
Install an app they name and check the update history in the store listing
Owns releases
Ask who submitted the last app they worked on and what the rejection was
Handles maintenance
Ask about the last OS release or SDK deadline that cost them a week
Works in a team codebase
Ask for a repository or a description of a code review they lost
Matches your stack
Have your existing developer or contractor read two answers, not the whole resume
Communicates
Judge the written application; this role writes to non-technical people constantly
If you have no technical person at all, buy an hour of a trusted senior developer’s time to sit in on one call. It is the cheapest insurance available on a hire this expensive, and our guide to finding developers for a startup covers where to source candidates in the first place.
Hiring a Mobile Developer Without an HR Department
Small company mobile hiring fails in three predictable places: the posting describes a toolkit instead of a job, the salary benchmark comes from a national headline that does not apply, and the post-offer paperwork lands on the same person who ran the search. Each has a fix.
You are hiring for a stack you cannot evaluate yourself
At a company without an engineering team, the person writing the mobile developer job description is usually the founder or an operations lead who has never written Swift or Kotlin. The failure mode is a posting assembled from candidate resumes and vendor blog posts, listing eleven technologies with no signal about which three matter. Candidates read that as a company that does not know what it wants, and the strong ones skip it. The fix is to describe the outcome instead of the toolkit: which app, which stores, what it does for customers, what breaks today, and who reviews the code. Then name only the technologies you actually run. If you genuinely do not know your own stack, ask whoever built the app to write two sentences before you post.
You cannot pay what the national median implies
Federal wage data for software developers is dominated by large employers in expensive metros, so a small business reading the national median as a target price talks itself out of hiring entirely. Benchmark to your local market and to the actual scope instead: a maintenance role on a shipped app and a senior role owning mobile architecture are not the same job and should not carry the same number. Then compete on what a small company actually has, which is scope, autonomy, direct customer contact, a decision made in a week instead of six, and the chance to own an entire product surface rather than one screen of it. Say all of that in the posting rather than saving it for the second interview.
The offer is accepted and then the paperwork lands on one person
For a technical hire the onboarding list is longer than for most roles: signed offer and IP assignment, contractor or employee determination on file, store account invitations under the company entity, repository and CI access, device allocation, security and data handling training, handbook acknowledgment, emergency contacts, and payroll forms. At a small company that all lands on the same person who just ran the search. FirstHR was built for exactly that moment. The onboarding wizard runs the same sequence for every hire, e-signature covers the offer and the IP assignment, document management stores the signed agreements against the employee profile, and training modules cover security and data handling before the first commit. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Once the offer is signed, the work shifts to a repeatable onboarding checklist: IP assignment, store account invitations under the company entity, repository and CI access, device allocation, and security training before the first commit.
Key Takeaways
Decide the platform before writing the posting, because cross-platform, native iOS, native Android, and two native codebases carried by one person are four different jobs with four different candidate pools.
A mobile developer owns distribution through store review and an annual platform release cycle, neither of which has an equivalent in web development, so name both in the responsibilities.
Register the Apple Developer Program and Google Play Console accounts to the company before the developer starts, and keep signing certificates, keystores, and provisioning profiles in company custody.
The FLSA computer employee exemption requires both a duties test and pay of at least $684 per week on a salary or fee basis or $27.63 per hour, so a junior below that floor or a role that drifts into support work is non-exempt.
There is no federal occupation code for mobile developers; benchmark against software developers, whose national median was $135,980 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), then adjust down for a smaller market and a narrower scope.
Screen on shipped apps and on maintenance history rather than on technology keywords, because both are publicly checkable in about ten minutes.
A technical hire arrives with a longer paperwork list than most roles: offer, IP assignment, store and repository access, device allocation, security training. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence every time, with e-signature for the offer and the assignment, document storage against each employee profile, and training modules completed before the first commit. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a mobile developer do?
A mobile developer builds, ships, and maintains applications that run on phones and tablets, which in practice means iOS, Android, or both. The build half is what people picture: writing the app in Swift, Kotlin, React Native, or Flutter, integrating an API, and handling offline behavior on a device that loses signal in an elevator. The other half is the part that surprises small employers. A mobile developer also owns the release process: preparing builds, signing them, submitting them to the App Store and Google Play, answering review, and staging the rollout. They keep the app current with each annual operating system release and each store deadline for target SDK levels, they renew signing certificates before they expire, and they keep the privacy disclosures on both store listings accurate. Web work has no equivalent of shipping through someone else’s review queue.
What should a mobile developer job description include?
It should include eight things: the exact stack you run rather than a wish list of technologies, which stores the app ships to, whether the app is your product or supports it, the responsibilities on both the build side and the release side, the experience range as a range rather than a hard gate, the FLSA classification, the salary range, and a named person to apply to with a real decision timeline. For a mobile role specifically, add two lines the generic templates omit: that the store developer accounts are registered to the company and the hire works inside them, and that a written intellectual property assignment is signed before the first commit. Ask for links to shipped apps or a repository as part of the application, because for mobile work that evidence is public and easy to check.
Should I hire a cross-platform or native mobile developer?
Hire cross-platform if the app is a channel to your business and native if the app is the business. A React Native or Flutter developer gives you one codebase, one hire, and both stores, which is why it is the default answer for a small company whose app lets customers book, order, or check an account. Native development gives you full platform capability and the best performance ceiling, and it matters when the app leans on hardware, on background processing, on new platform features the day they ship, or on a level of polish your users will actually notice. The expensive middle is two native codebases carried by one developer: possible, common at small companies, and roughly half the feature volume of two specialists, because the maintenance floor exists on both sides. Whichever you choose, name it in the posting rather than leaving the developer to guess.
How much does a mobile developer make?
There is no separate Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation for mobile developers, so the correct benchmark is software developers, occupation code 15-1252. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), software developers earned a national median of $135,980 per year, or $65.38 per hour, with the 10th percentile at $82,460, the 25th at $105,210, the 75th at $171,980, and the 90th at $214,670. That population skews toward large employers in expensive metros, so a small business outside a major tech market should expect a mid-level mobile hire to land between the 25th and 50th percentiles. Nearby classifications give useful floors for narrower work: software quality assurance analysts and testers at a $104,300 median, computer programmers at $100,390, and web developers at $92,650. Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency law requires one.
Are mobile developers exempt from overtime?
Usually yes, under the FLSA computer employee exemption, but the exemption is conditional and both conditions have to hold. The compensation test requires at least $684 per week on a salary or fee basis, or at least $27.63 per hour. The duties test requires a primary duty of systems analysis, or the design, development, documentation, testing, creation, or modification of computer programs. A developer building and shipping an app clears both comfortably. The failures happen at the edges: a role that drifts into device configuration, manual test execution, store account administration, or user support is not exempt no matter what the title says, and a junior paid below the weekly floor is not exempt either. Classify on the actual day rather than the job title, and if the role is non-exempt, track hours and pay overtime past forty in a week. This is general information, not legal advice.
Who should own the Apple and Google developer accounts?
The company, always, and this is worth getting right before the first day rather than after. Enroll in the Apple Developer Program and open the Google Play Console account under your company legal entity, using a company email address and a company payment method, then add the developer as a team member with the access their job requires. When an app gets published under a developer’s personal account instead, the listing, the reviews, the ratings history, and the install base sit under an individual’s name, and recovering them requires a store transfer process that depends entirely on that person cooperating. The same rule applies to signing certificates, upload keys, keystores, and provisioning profiles: they are company property, they belong somewhere the company controls, they need a documented recovery path, and they get collected at offboarding along with the laptop.
Can I hire a contract mobile developer to build my app?
Yes, and for a first version with a defined scope it is often the right call, but two things decide whether it goes well. First, contractor status is determined by the working relationship rather than by the label on the agreement. If you set the schedule, direct the methods, supply the equipment, and slot the person into your management chain, the Department of Labor and the IRS will read that as employment regardless of the contract, with back overtime and back taxes attached. Second, work created by an independent contractor is not automatically a work made for hire, and custom software does not fit comfortably into the narrow list of categories that qualify, so you need a signed written copyright assignment before work begins rather than at delivery. Build inside your own store accounts and your own repository from day one, and require a handover runbook as a named deliverable.
How do I hire a mobile developer without an HR department?
Run a short, fixed sequence and compress the timeline, because strong mobile candidates are usually in several processes at once. Write the posting around the outcome rather than a technology wish list: which app, which stores, what it does for customers, what is broken today. Ask for links to shipped apps or a repository in the application, which for mobile work is public evidence you can check in ten minutes. Screen with a short paid exercise or a walkthrough of code the candidate already owns rather than a whiteboard test you cannot evaluate. Check references on shipping and on maintenance, not just on building. Then move fast, because speed is one of the few advantages a small employer can spend. Once the offer is signed, run onboarding as a checklist: IP assignment, store account invitations under the company entity, repository access, device allocation, and security training. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
