About the role

We’re hiring our first Senior React Native Engineer to lead Kernel’s move into mobile! This is a foundational role with the opportunity to shape not just our app, but our long-term mobile strategy.

Customers have asked for a mobile app, and as Kernel grows, delivering a seamless mobile experience is key to providing exceptional investing services. You’ll own a defined area of the app, building features that directly impact our growing customer base. Kernel is growing – and fast. We've doubled year on year for the past six years, now trusted by 40,000+ Kiwis with over $2B invested, and on track for another stellar 12 months ahead.. Your work will be visible, meaningful, and influence a high-profile product used nationwide.

This role offers autonomy to make decisions within your area while collaborating closely with a supportive engineering team. You’ll partner with our product designer to create a native mobile experience that complements our highly rated web app and transforms how Kiwis manage and grow their wealth with Kernel.

About Kernel

We're a 100% Kiwi owned and operated fintech on a mission to make wealth accessible for every Kiwi. Our investment platform takes the guesswork out of investing – offering KiwiSaver, Managed Funds, US shares & ETFs, and Smart Saver accounts, all in one place with some of the lowest fees in the market.

We're at an exciting stage. Scaling fast, expanding our team of globally experienced financial professionals, and building the foundations for what's next. Our culture is collaborative, hands-on and ambitious – built on trust, innovation and saying it like it is. We value diverse perspectives, empower individuality, and believe the best ideas come from thinking together.

Things move quickly here, and every person plays a key role in shaping our future.

What you’ll do

• Lead the build of Kernel’s first mobile app using React Native, setting the technical foundations for our long-term mobile capability

• Establish and own mobile engineering best practices, architecture, code quality, CI/CD, testing, release processes, and monitoring

• Collaborate with product designers and product managers to craft a native mobile experience that’s seamless, intuitive, and distinctly Kernel

• Work closely with web engineers to ensure consistency across platforms while introducing mobile-first patterns

• Ship features hands-on, while guiding other engineers contributing to mobile development

• Champion performance, accessibility, and scalability in our mobile approach

• Stay current with tools and approaches in the React Native and mobile ecosystem to ensure Kernel builds with the future in mind

You’ll be great if you bring

• Experience building and shipping commercial mobile apps, native or cross-platform

• Strong React Native skills, or native experience with the ability to work in a React Native environment

• Confidence managing the full mobile engineering lifecycle, architecture, code quality, CI/CD, testing, release, and app store management

• A strong sense of what makes a native app experience exceptional, and a passion for working closely with designers

• A track record of technical leadership, defining standards and shaping best practices

• Pragmatism in balancing high-quality engineering with delivering customer value

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate across teams

• Comfort working in ambiguity, able to turn unclear requirements into opportunities, make confident decisions, and keep teams aligned

• Eligibility to work in New Zealand

Bonus things you could bring along to the role

• Mentoring others entering the mobile space

• Proven track record using React Native to build and ship high-quality, performant apps across iOS and Android

Why You’ll Love it at Kernel

• Contribute to a platform relied on by tens of thousands of users across New Zealand

• Join a team built on trust, collaboration, and flexibility, where initiative and ownership are valued

• Influence Kernel’s mobile and technology strategy

• Grow your skills alongside engineers, designers, and product experts in a culture of continuous improvement

• Competitive compensation package, including salary with performance-based bonus.

• Enjoy the best of both worlds with a flexible hybrid setup, connect in person while keeping the freedom to work from home a couple of days each week (around 3 days in the office).

• Health insurance, parental leave top-up, and professional development support

• Extra staff holidays, office snacks, coffee, and a dog-friendly environment

Join our team

Not sure you meet every requirement? We encourage you to apply. We value growth, impact, and mindset just as much as specific experience. If this opportunity sounds like you, send us your cover letter explaining why you’re excited about the role and working at Kernel, along with your CV.

Visit our careers page for more on working at Kernel and follow us on LinkedIn & Instagram. to stay connected.