iOS Technical Lead

Join our journey to create a new experience for The National Lottery and help us to power change for the greater good.

We are Allwyn UK, part of the Allwyn Entertainment Group - a multi-national lottery operator with a market-leading presence across Europe which includes: Czech Republic, Austria, Greece, Cyprus & Italy.

While the main contribution of The National Lottery to society is through the funds to good causes, at Allwyn we put our purpose and values at the heart of everything we do. Join us as we embark on a once-in-a-lifetime, largescale transformation journey by creating a National Lottery that delivers more money to good causes.

We'll talk a bit more about us further down the page, but for now - let's talk about the role and who we're looking for

A bit about the role

As an iOS Technical Lead, you will be responsible for the design and development of the Allwyn iOS mobile application. The role combines hands-on development with leadership responsibilities, guiding a team of iOS developers to create a high quality, scalable and performant mobile application. You will be responsible for the development of the iOS mobile Grade "A" application strategy.You will always place customer needs at the heart of the software development process

What you'll be doing

Technical Leadership

• Lead the iOS development team in the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of iOS applications.
• Oversee architecture and design decisions for new features, ensuring scalability, performance, and maintainability, working closely with the Architecture Team (Solution & Enterprise Architecture).
• Conduct code reviews to ensure adherence to best practices, coding standards, and technical guidelines to ensuring high-standards and a first-class application e.g. TDD, CI/CD, Shift-Left practices, etc.).
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (design, product management, backend services) to ensure cohesive and efficient implementation of features.
• Remain up to date with the latest industry trends, libraries, and iOS development tools, frameworks, and advocate for their use within the team.
• Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code while adhering to coding standards and best practices.
• Drive innovation within the Digital Factory and the within the wider business.
• Assist in troubleshooting and resolving complex technical issues.
• Accountability for iOS development and the ownership for the creation of technical Epics/Stories.
• Experience of working and leading near-shore/offshore development teams.

Team Mentorship & Development

• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior and mid-level iOS developers.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and innovation within the team.
• Help junior developers grow in both technical skills and professional development.
• Ensure team members are following agile methodologies and best practices, fostering an efficient and healthy work environment.
• Collaborate on the establishment, and be an active member, of Mobile & iOS Guilds focusing onknowledge sharing, establishing best practices, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Working closely with the Android & Web Technical Leads.

Project and Product Management

• Collaborate with product managers, designers and solution architects to understand requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
• Feed into the technical roadmap and feature prioritisation for the iOS platform.
• Manage and optimise development processes, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality products.
• Identify, track, and mitigate technical risks and bottlenecks in the development lifecycle.

Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement

• Ensure that the iOS application is rigorously tested and maintains high code quality through unit tests, integration tests, and automated UI testing.
• Take ownership of technical debt and refactoring efforts, ensuring that the codebase remains clean, modular, and maintainable.
• Drive continuous improvement of development processes, contributing to greater efficiency and effectiveness within the team.

Collaboration & Communication

• Maintain clear, open lines of communication with cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment and understanding of technical and business objectives.
• Regularly report on development progress, challenges, and milestones to senior management and stakeholders.
• Participate in sprint planning, backlog grooming, and retrospectives to ensure smooth and efficient development cycles.

What experience we're looking for

Experience

• Extensive professional experience in iOS development with a strong portfolio of released iOS apps.
• Proven track record of leading and mentoring iOS development teams in fast-paced environments.
• Extensive experience with Swift, Objective-C, Xcode and iOS SDK's; as well as iOS build systems.
• Experience with Agile development methodologies and project management tools (e.g. JIRA, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, LeSS, etc.).
• Thriving on ambiguity, championing and progressing new ways of working and building high-performing teams.
• Experience of working with near-shore/off-shore development teams.

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of mobile architecture patterns (MVVM, MVP, etc.) and SOLID principles.
• Familiarity with RESTful APIs, Graph API's, JSON, WebSocket's, and integration with backend services.
• Experience with unit testing & automated testing frameworks/tools (XCTest, XCUITest, or third-party libraries etc.).
• Deep understanding of UI/UX design principles for iOS, and experience with tools like Figma, or Sketch.
• Experience with version control systems, particularly Git, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Knowledge of IOS performance tuning and optimisation techniques.

Soft Skills

• Strong leadership and team-building skills.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to work in an agile, fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities.
• Resilience under pressure.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to think critically and creatively.
• Highly organised with attention to detail.

Advantageous experience

• Experience in Cloud Technologies (AWS, Firebase).
• Experience with App Store publishing, including app release management and analytics.
• Experience with offline data storage and syncing, as well as mobile data management.
• Experience in the Gaming/Lottery sectors or other heavily regulated environment.
• Familiarity with Kotlin/Java development (for potential cross-platform efforts).
• Worked in a Technical Authority role.

Key Measures of Success:

Code Quality & Technical Standards

• Code Review Metrics - The percentage of code reviews completed on time, also the quality of the feedback provided leading to improvements in the codebase.
• Code Coverage - The percentage of code covered by Unit/Automation tests.
• Post Release Defect - Reduction in the number of defects found post release.

App Performance & Stability

• App Crash Rate - A reduction in the volume of App crashes per user or session.
• App Performance Metrics - user facing metrics e.g. application load times, responsiveness of features, memory usage, etc.

Customer Satisfaction

• User Retention & Engagement Metrics
• Customer Issue Resolution - issues raised and resolved within a defined period.

Team Productivity & Growth

• Developer Growth & Retention - improvement in developer skills, learning milestones, etc.
• Team Efficiency - Reduction in the average time spent completing a task/feature.
• Mentoring Effectiveness - Feedback from developers regarding the support and guidance they receive.
• Technical Innovation Regularly exploring new tools, libraries, and technologies that can improve the app's functionality, performance, or development efficiency.

Risk & Technical Debt Management

• Reduction in Technical Debt.
• Risk Mitigation & Resolution Time - The number of high-risk technical issues identified and resolved within a defined period.

Continuous Improvement

Keeping the team informed about the latest trends in iOS development and incorporating relevant advancements into the development process, along with knowledge transfer to other team members.

About us:

We've developed ground-breaking technologies, built player protection frameworks, and have a proven track record of making lotteries better.

• Innovation - We pride ourselves on it! We're constantly looking for new ways to excite our customers, bringing new products to enjoy which is all underpinned by our responsible play values and making them accessible to all.
• Giving back - Did you know that playing the lottery generates around £30m a week for charities and good causes in the UK? Our aim is to have doubled this number by the end of the first 10 year licence
• Sustainability - Our aim to be net zero by 2030 which would make us the first lottery provider globally to achieve this
• Inclusion and accessibility - We are making all parts of The National Lottery inclusive - whether you play a game in a store or online.
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