iOS Engineer · New York, NY

Amber Spadafora

Experienced iOS Engineer focused on building polished, performant mobile experiences. Over the past 6+ years, I’ve delivered production applications in Swift, UIKit, and SwiftUI, including large-scale enterprise products at IBM.

About

I'm a freelance iOS engineer who turns complex requirements into reliable, delightful consumer experiences. My work spans native Swift, SwiftUI, and Objective-C through to React Native, with hands-on experience in identity verification, on-device data security, and AWS-backed data sync. I like partnering closely with product and design, and I care about getting the last 10% right, not just the demo.

Experience

Software Engineer, IBM

New York, NY (Remote) 2021–2025

  • Built and maintained features for IBM's internal employee app (w3 Mobile), first in Swift and later rebuilt from the ground up in React Native to adopt the Carbon Design System.
  • Built an offline-accessible company directory supporting 350,000+ employee records, with daily background sync and efficient local data storage.
  • Co-led development of the IBM App Store on the Mobile@IBM team, a React Native app with deeply integrated Objective-C SDK components.
  • Contributed to IBM's open-source carbon-react-native project, improving component accessibility and usability with the Carbon team.
  • Served as the team's iOS subject-matter expert, mentoring React Native developers on Xcode workflows, native bridging, and platform-specific best practices.

iOS Developer, Rival

Los Angeles, CA (Onsite) 2018

  • Built a Swift mobile prototype for a guest check-in app used at large-scale stadium and concert events, enabling secure facial-recognition entry.
  • Integrated on-device camera functionality and partnered with backend and computer-vision teams on the recognition check-in workflows.
  • Worked with AWS services to securely download and manage event guest data on-device for real-time identity verification.
  • Designed UIKit components for onboarding and camera interactions; a UX suggestion for guiding users during face scanning was adopted by the team.

Software Engineer, Seedling

Los Angeles, CA (Onsite) 2018

  • Contributed to Parker, an iOS companion app for an interactive teddy bear featuring 50+ educational games, puzzles, and AR experiences.
  • Built several 2D mini-games in UIKit with custom animations, touch interactions, and game logic tailored for young users.
  • Improved layout responsiveness across screen sizes and resolved UI defects to elevate the overall experience.
  • Collaborated closely with design and product to keep experiences engaging and on-brand.

Selected work

w3 Mobile

Swift · React Native

IBM's internal employee app, including an offline company directory for 350,000+ records with daily background sync. Rebuilt in React Native on the Carbon Design System.

IBM App Store

React Native · Objective-C

Co-led a React Native app on the Mobile@IBM team with deeply integrated Objective-C SDK components and native bridging.

carbon-react-native

Open source

Contributions to IBM's open-source component library, focused on accessibility and usability with the Carbon team.

Stadium Guest Check-in

Swift · AWS · Camera

A facial-recognition entry prototype for large events at Rival, with on-device camera and secure AWS-backed guest data.

Parker

UIKit · AR

An iOS companion app for an interactive teddy bear at Seedling, with 50+ games, puzzles, and AR experiences for young users.

Skills

Languages & frameworks

SwiftSwiftUIUIKitObjective-CReact NativeJavaScriptTypeScript

Tools & platforms

XcodeGitCocoaPodsAWSFirebaseREST APIsGraphQL

Architecture & practices

App architectureNative bridgingOffline data syncOn-device security

UI/UX & design systems

Carbon Design SystemAuto LayoutInterface BuilderFigmaAccessibility

Testing & collaboration

XCTestXcode InstrumentsRN DebuggerAgile / ScrumJira

Contact

Available for freelance iOS projects.

The best way to reach me is email. Tell me what you're building and where it's at.