Senior/Staff Software Engineer, iOS (Identity Credentials)

Tools for Humanity•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

World is building a real human network designed to accelerate people in the age of AI. As bots and autonomous agents reshape the internet, people, institutions, and applications need a trusted way to confirm who is a real human while preserving privacy. Our products make this possible: the Orb verifies real people, World ID proves it privately, and World App enables and distributes the new applications made possible by this technology. Together, they form a new layer for AI internet. We’re one of the fastest-growing networks in tech. More than 17 million people across 160 countries have verified with World ID, and we complete over 350,000 verifications each week. World App is already among the most used wallets globally. Developers are integrating World ID to build safer online experiences and create spaces where real people can participate, earn, and be recognized in ways AI simply can’t replicate. World was founded in 2019 and launched globally in 2023. We are more than 400 people across hardware, software, AI, cryptography, mobile engineering, and global operations. Our teams come from OpenAI, Tesla, SpaceX, Apple, Google, Stripe, Meta, Coinbase, Palantir and MIT Media Lab. We’re backed by leading investors, including a16z, Khosla Ventures, Bain Capital Crypto, Blockchain Capital, Variant, Tiger Global, and Coinbase Ventures, as well as prominent operators and founders across fintech and AI. World has been featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, highlighted in Fast Company’s Next 5 in Fintech, and explored in a Bloomberg deep dive. The New York Times, Bankless and TechCrunch have all recognized our progress in identity, cryptography, AI, and global-scale hardware deployment. Our leadership is also named to the Time AI 100. Learn more about the newest product launches from our Unwrapped event. World ID is a digital identity system and proof of humanity for everyone, designed to be a foundational identity protocol for the internet in the era of AGI. It is built to be self-custodial, secure, decentralized and open, setting new standards for privacy and transparency. At the heart of World ID are groundbreaking innovations in hardware and software—spanning distributed systems, cryptography, sensors, biometrics, machine learning and blockchain technology. As part of the team behind World ID, you’ll work on defining and building its core systems, user experiences, and developer integrations. You'll help shape the future of technologies needed to realize this ambitious vision. The Opportunity: We are seeking a Senior/Staff iOS Engineer to spearhead World ID Identity Credentials. You will architect and build the foundational client-side systems that allow users to securely extract, store, and utilize identity credentials (including government-issued eIDs and ePassports) while preserving privacy through technologies such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs). Expand the breadth and depth of World ID globally by building support for Identity credentials following ICAO 9303, mDL, mDoc and other global, national and regional standards in a platform agnostic, open, secure and privacy-preserving way. Support real-world use cases by developing a standards-based verifiable credentials infrastructure for privacy-preserving attestations for personal information. You will lead the implementation of client-side ZKP generation, allowing users to securely and privately share proofs with relying parties. Build core technologies utilizing Apple's Secure Enclave, Keychain services, and CryptoKit on device and in the cloud to optimize security, privacy, and compliance (e.g., eIDAS 2.0 readiness) and collaborate on cross-platform libraries. Advance an open and decentralized World ID platform for empowering third-party developers to integrate World ID without relying on proprietary technologies and systems. As a Senior/Staff Software Engineer on the World ID team, you’ll take ownership of key software components - designing, building, debugging, scaling and maintaining them to meet high standards. You'll work closely with product managers, cryptographers, and other stakeholders to deliver impactful solutions, driving the technical roadmap for mobile credential management. You will serve as a technical expert for your domain, own and drive critical initiatives for the company, collaborate with technical leaders across the company, mentor and grow other engineers.

Requirements

Deep experience designing and developing native iOS applications.
Domain expertise in Apple's Core NFC framework and/or have experience communicating with smart cards/RFID chips (APDU commands, ICAO 9303 ePassport standards, ISO 18013-5 mDL).
Strong background in mobile security and hardware integration, featuring deep, hands-on expertise with the Secure Enclave, Keychain, and biometric authentication APIs (Face ID/Touch ID).
Familiarity with applied cryptography and advanced experience integrating cryptographic libraries into mobile environments via Swift interop.
Well-versed in Liveness & Biometrics, including Presentation Attack Detection (PAD), facial matching, and secure biometric orchestration.
Keeps up with existing and emerging identity protocol and schema standards such as Verifiable Credentials, eIDAS, EUDI, SD-JWT, BBS+ and so on.
Comfortable developing platform-independent libraries for reuse across mobile and cloud platforms.
Colleagues consistently vouch for your ability to collaborate, mentor other engineers, and translate complex cryptographic concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Knack for identifying the most important tasks, relentlessly focusing on them, and driving them to completion in ambiguous environments.

Nice To Haves

Experience with generating Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) on mobile hardware, Verifiable Credentials, or decentralized identity protocols is a massive plus.

Responsibilities

Architect and build the foundational client-side systems that allow users to securely extract, store, and utilize identity credentials (including government-issued eIDs and ePassports) while preserving privacy through technologies such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs).
Expand the breadth and depth of World ID globally by building support for Identity credentials following ICAO 9303, mDL, mDoc and other global, national and regional standards in a platform agnostic, open, secure and privacy-preserving way.
Support real-world use cases by developing a standards-based verifiable credentials infrastructure for privacy-preserving attestations for personal information.
Lead the implementation of client-side ZKP generation, allowing users to securely and privately share proofs with relying parties.
Build core technologies utilizing Apple's Secure Enclave, Keychain services, and CryptoKit on device and in the cloud to optimize security, privacy, and compliance (e.g., eIDAS 2.0 readiness) and collaborate on cross-platform libraries.
Advance an open and decentralized World ID platform for empowering third-party developers to integrate World ID without relying on proprietary technologies and systems.
Take ownership of key software components - designing, building, debugging, scaling and maintaining them to meet high standards.
Work closely with product managers, cryptographers, and other stakeholders to deliver impactful solutions, driving the technical roadmap for mobile credential management.
Serve as a technical expert for your domain, own and drive critical initiatives for the company.
Collaborate with technical leaders across the company, mentor and grow other engineers.