Chaman Labs
Now booking · senior iOS retainerBook a call →
01 — One engineer · iOS native only

Senior iOSdevelopment.[On retainer.]

Senior Swift. Senior SwiftUI.For founders, in-house teams, and agencies that need senior iOS — without the hiring loop.

Now booking
iOS Dev Retainer№ 026
Operator
Johnn Mancilla
Since
2026
Studio
chamanlabs.com
Default tier
standard
Availability
open
Pause anytime, cancel anytime.
No retainer lock-in.
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Who this is for
a.

Founders shipping a v2.

You have the app. It's tired. You need someone who can refactor it without a three-week ramp.

b.

In-house teams with a growing iOS backlog.

Your devs are shipping features. The bug queue and the CI pipeline pile up behind them. I plug in for the second lane — bugs, refactors, pipelines — so your team stays on the headline work.

c.

Agencies overflowing with iOS work.

You closed more iOS than your bench can ship. You need a senior who plugs in, ships under your brand, and leaves no mess.

03

A working menu, roughly

Things I've —

shipped.

— recently, and roughly in this order.

Estimates assume scope is clear, backend is ready, and access is granted. I'll give you a real one on the call.

§
04

Two plans. Both can pause.
Both can cancel.

Most start here
Standard
one active task at a time · ~48h turnaround
$5,995/mo
  • One active task at a timeyes
  • ~48h turnaroundmost
  • PRs in your repoyes
  • Pause & keep your slotyes
Book a call →Subscribe — soon
Double
two parallel tasks · priority queue · slack
$9,995/mo
  • Two parallel tasksyes
  • Priority queueyou jump
  • Shared Slack channelyes
  • Pause & cancel termssame
Book a call →Subscribe — soon

Or try one task first. If we click, we keep going. I'll suggest a trial when it makes sense on the call — not before.

Book a 30-min call →first task on us if we're a fit · no card to read the plans
How it works
01

Book a call. Tell me what you're shipping.

02

I tell you if I can deliver it well. Sometimes I'll say no.

03

We pick a plan. Or one trial task. Your call.

04

PRs land in your repo. Or builds in TestFlight. Either way: fast.

§

Where this came from.

Ten-plus years, mostly on apps people use at work. Dates are when the work shipped.

  • 2026Banco ItaúiOS engineer — day job, presentcurrent
  • 2024Movistar Uruguaystreaming app overhaul, SwiftUI rewriteapp store
  • 2023Walmart ChileSIGO field-ops app, offline-firstapp store
  • 2022Falabellaretail app — checkout & payments workios
  • 2021Sura Colombiafield research app for agentsios
  • 2019Independentcontract iOS for startups & agenciesmisc
07

Real ones, mostly

Questions I've been asked.

01How is this different from Upwork or Toptal?+

You're not picking from a roster. It's me, every task. No account manager, no rotating contractors, no re-explaining your codebase to a new person each sprint. One person who learns your app once and keeps the context.

02What if my task is too big?+

Then we cut it down on the call. Big things become a sequence of shippable tasks — each one a PR you can review. If it genuinely needs a team, I'll tell you that instead of pretending one person can do it.

03Is this really iOS only? No Android, no cross-platform?+

Correct. Native iOS — Swift, SwiftUI, UIKit — is the whole job. No React Native, no Flutter, no Android. I'd rather be the person who does one platform extremely well than the one who does four of them adequately.

04What hours do you work?+

I run on US Eastern for overlap. You'll get a reply window most working days, and a clear note when you won't. I don't pretend to be online 24/7 — async is the point.

05What happens during your day job hours?+

Honest answer: this runs outside them — early mornings, evenings, weekends. That's exactly why the client count is intentionally small. I'd rather under-book and deliver than over-book and stall.

06Can I pause if my month goes quiet?+

Yes. Pause the billing, keep your slot for when you're back. No penalty, no awkward reactivation call. Cancel outright whenever you like.

07Whose repo do PRs land in?+

Yours. I work in your repo, your branch conventions, your CI. You own everything I write the moment it merges. No code held hostage on my machine.

08Why is the client count low?+

Because the whole pitch is that you get a senior engineer, not a queue. The math only works if I keep the client count low enough to actually do the work well.

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08 — Let's talk

Let's see
if this fits.

Book a 30-min call →

Bring the thing you're trying to ship. Thirty minutes, no deck, no pressure. If I'm not the right call, I'll usually know who is.