# Nathaniel Kirby

> Staff Software Engineer at Calm

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/nathanielkirby

I strive for simple, clean and innovative ways to display what needs to be said in a way that is a joy to the user. With expertise in Mobile and Web, focusing on the best of cutting-edge modern technology, and experience in enterprises both large and small, I find elegant solutions for problems.

## Work Experience
### Staff Software Engineer @ Calm
Jan 2021 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States
- Delivered continuous updates to an existing & beloved Objective-C & Swift iOS app.
- Architected and built new features & systems for both iOS and Android apps.
- Introduced automated unit testing to reduce bugs & regressions.
- Helped identify & rebuild problematic areas of the app to both improve the user experience as well as reduce ongoing maintenance required.
- Worked with product and design to embrace the latest Apple technologies when and where they made sense.
- Developed a comprehensive theming system allowing for a broad and flexible component library, compile-time consistency with color & typography systems, as well as the ability to A/B test redesigns.
- Over a nearly two year process, undertook a full rethink of how to build apps at Calm embracing modern technologies as well as acknowledged best practices both within the company as well as the broader ecosystem.
- Worked with backend architects to deploy a completely new style of service architecture optimized for speed & cacheability, and paired it with an extremely high throughput intelligent task scheduler in our iOS client.
- Coordinated shared knowledge between Calm's three separate iOS teams.

### Mobile Developer @ GENIUS
Jan 2016 – Jan 2020 | New York
- Developed new features for both Android and iOS apps, coordinating regular & routine releases for both simultaneously.
- Integrated cross-platform solutions (HTML, React Native) to deploy meaningful features to both Android and iOS apps
- Worked with our users directly through forums to advocate for the features they most wanted and integrate it with an ambitious roadmap.
- Utilized a culture of unit testing (through Quick & Nimble) to reduce bugs & crashes as well as improve overall quality.
- Embraced new technologies like iMessage apps to bring Genius's Lyric Messages to life - a surprise hit that added almost 20% to our MAU and continued growing. 
- Strived to keep the codebase modern by adopting framework updates promptly, port an existing Objective-C & Swift app to Swift 3 (and beyond), as well as begin adopting Kotlin in the existing Android app.
- Architected an in-place rewrite of the iOS app for improved stability, performance and feature set.
- Worked with the team to hire a mobile team which I would go on to mentor, helping architect significant changes to the Android app that I was unable to undertake alone.

### Mobile Developer @ Digg
Jan 2014 – Jan 2016
- Architected a ground-up rewrite of our existing iOS application using Swift.
- Delivered updates used by 100-150k MAUs, who read greater than 2 million stories a week.
- Built & integrated automated testing, continuous integration & delivery tools to aid in reliability and speed of delivery.
- Improved reliability of our core mobile product by reducing crashes by 60+% though a combination of code review and automated testing.
- Developed a system to deliver prototype apps & internal applications rapidly using shared codebases.
- Maintained active communication with our users through feedback & social channels.
- Built the first DiggBot (slack news bot) prototype using NodeJS. 
- Also built bots using Swift and Ruby, and deployed to various VPSs including Linode, Digital Ocean, AWS & Heroku. 
- Fostered active communication with Apple developer teams (the app was twice named as a best app by Apple).

### Mobile Developer @ bitly
Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Greater New York City Area
- Delivered updates on a continuous 3 week release cycle.
- Introduced automated testing and code documentation to a pre-existing, large Objective-C codebase.
- Added an almost entirely custom UI, working hand-in-hand with the design team.
- Implemented robust data visualization and graphing for our premium, Bitly Brand Tools partners.
- Though careful instrumenting, debugging and testing, reduced memory usage and hugely improved stability of the app. 
- Worked on prototypes of iOS and Android projects which never were released.

### Manager, Mobile Software Development @ OPTiMO Information Technology
Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
- Developed full lifecycle mobile applications using iOS and HTML5 technologies for clients and in house projects.
- Developed web sites and applications using common technologies including multiple common CMS applications. 
- Lead a small team of Android, iOS and Blackberry developers, as well as UI/UX designers and server engineers.
- Designed, developed and maintained custom common elements to assist in rapid deployment.
- Mentored younger developers as well as helped more veteran developers grow.
- Developed custom elements for internal intranet applications designed to assist the development process, as well as deployed and maintained open source tools in order to streamline our processes. 
- Built applications and prototypes for private and public sector clients.
- Worked with clients and team members to produce accurate time analysis, requirements documents, wireframes and additional documentation in order to produce the highest quality product at all times.

### Senior iOS Developer and UI/UX Designer @ Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Harrisburg, PA
- Developed common UI elements and components for unifying and standardizing mobile applications at the state level. 
- Built a common UI language for applications at PennDOT.
- Developed wireframes, storyboards and requirements for multiple mobile applications, deployed across the state.
- Developed iOS systems for rapid integration of protected file shares via VPN in mobile applications.
- Developed, helped with the design of, tested and deployed numerous mobile applications.
- Built web applications using the Dojo Toolkit that supported both iPads and Internet Explorer 8.
- Taught and mentored newer developers, as well as worked hand in hand with more experienced developers to help foster a learning and supportive environment.


## Education
### Moravian University
Jan 2002 – Jan 2006


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathaniel-kirby-22086922

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Source: https://flows.cv/nathanielkirby
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/nathanielkirby/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-03-22