Roles · React Native Developer · Principal

What a Principal } should know

36 core skills, 51 in total. Expectations per skill, and what changes at the next level.

This page lists what a Principal } is expected to know and do, skill by skill. Core skills are the ones a manager and peers assess in a review cycle; the rest count only in self-assessment. Main areas: Programming Fundamentals, Frontend Development, Mobile Development.

36core skills
15additional skills
11skill areas
100%at Advanced or Expert
Assess myself as Principal Full role matrix

Core skills for a Principal

Grouped by area. The label on the right is the expected depth: Awareness, Working, Advanced or Expert.

Programming Fundamentals · 7

Shapes organizational algorithmic optimization standards for mobile applications. Defines architectural patterns for efficient data processing in React Native. Consults teams on algorithm selection for critical scenarios — offline sync, real-time updates, search.

Shapes the organizational async management strategy for mobile applications. Defines offline-first architecture patterns with data synchronization. Designs distributed system solutions — real-time sync, conflict resolution, eventual consistency in mobile clients.

Shapes the organizational code quality culture in mobile development. Defines metrics and KPIs for React Native application codebases. Designs tooling for automated quality checks. Implements architectural fitness functions for code degradation control.

Shapes enterprise data architecture standards for mobile applications. Defines storage and data structure selection strategy for different types of React Native projects. Designs reference offline-first application architecture with optimal data modeling.

Shapes the enterprise design patterns catalog for mobile development. Defines reference React Native application architecture with patterns for scaling, reuse, and maintainability. Leads architectural standards at the organizational level.

Shapes organizational OOP design standards in mobile development. Defines the balance between OOP and functional approaches in React Native. Designs SDKs and component libraries applying SOLID for reuse across teams.

Shapes enterprise typing standards in mobile development. Defines shared types strategy between React Native and backend. Designs monorepo architecture with type-safe code reuse across iOS, Android, and web through shared TypeScript packages.

Frontend Development · 4

Data Fetching Expert

Shapes the organizational data management strategy for mobile applications. Defines API gateway architecture for mobile clients — BFF, GraphQL federation. Designs offline-first data layer with conflict resolution for enterprise React Native applications.

React Core Expert

Shapes the React ecosystem usage strategy at the organizational level. Evaluates the impact of new React APIs on mobile development. Defines architecture for reusing React components between React Native and web. Plans migration to New Architecture.

Shapes enterprise state management standards for mobile applications. Defines data synchronization strategy between mobile clients and backend services. Designs reference architecture for offline-capable applications with predictable state management.

Shapes the organizational accessibility strategy for mobile applications. Defines a11y standards for all React Native projects. Coordinates accessibility integration into the design system. Establishes mobile application audit and WCAG certification processes.

Mobile Development · 7

Shapes organizational mobile store strategy for cross-platform products: evaluates enterprise ASO tooling and analytics platforms, designs global store listing localization frameworks, establishes experimentation governance for app discoverability across all product lines.

Shapes the organizational strategy for iOS platform data management. Defines native module architecture for optimal storage — when Core Data bridging is justified vs MMKV/SQLite. Coordinates compatibility between React Native and native iOS team solutions.

Mobile CI/CD Expert

Shapes the organizational CI/CD strategy for mobile applications. Defines build infrastructure architecture — self-hosted vs cloud (EAS), certificate management. Designs unified pipeline for React Native monorepo with shared components across multiple applications.

Shapes organizational mobile application performance standards. Defines metrics and SLAs for React Native — crash-free rate, ANR rate, startup time by percentiles. Designs performance monitoring and alerting infrastructure for all mobile products.

Shapes the enterprise mobile application security strategy. Defines security architecture — OWASP MASVS compliance, MDM integration. Coordinates security processes between mobile and backend teams. Designs secure SDLC for React Native development across the organization.

Shapes the organizational navigation strategy for cross-platform React Native applications. Defines deep linking and universal links architecture for iOS/Android. Coordinates navigation standards between React Native and native Android teams.

React Native Expert

Shapes the React Native mobile development strategy at the organizational level. Defines the technology roadmap — New Architecture, Expo adoption, monorepo. Evaluates React Native vs native development for new products. Establishes processes and practices for scaling.

API & Integration · 4

Shapes the enterprise API documentation strategy for mobile applications. Defines API governance standards — style guides, design reviews, versioning policy. Designs developer portal for mobile teams. Coordinates API documentation unification at the organizational level.

Shapes the enterprise GraphQL strategy for the organization's mobile applications. Defines architecture — schema stitching, federation for mobile clients. Designs API evolution strategy accounting for mobile app versions in production and App Store review cycles.

Shapes the organizational API integration strategy for mobile applications. Defines API gateway and BFF architecture for React Native. Designs enterprise patterns — API versioning, deprecation policy, backward compatibility for mobile clients with long update cycles.

Shapes the organizational real-time communications strategy for mobile applications. Defines technology choices — WebSocket vs SSE vs long-polling for various use cases. Designs scalable real-time infrastructure for React Native considering mobile-specific constraints.

DevOps & CI/CD · 1

Shapes the organizational DevOps strategy for mobile applications. Designs unified CI/CD platform for React Native projects — shared workflows, reusable actions, centralized secrets. Defines pipeline SLAs. Implements GitOps practices for mobile release management.

Testing & QA · 4

E2E Testing Expert

Shapes the organizational E2E testing strategy for mobile applications. Defines automation standards — smoke tests, regression suite, release validation. Designs centralized device farm for all mobile teams. Implements quality gates at the release process level.

Shapes the organizational integration testing strategy for mobile applications. Defines contract testing standards between mobile and backend teams. Designs infrastructure for parallel testing across different iOS/Android versions within the organization.

Shapes the organizational QA strategy for mobile applications. Defines quality gate standards — crash-free rate, ANR rate, test coverage. Designs centralized QA infrastructure — device labs, test automation framework, monitoring. Coordinates QA processes across teams.

Unit Testing Expert

Shapes the organizational testing culture for mobile applications. Defines quality assurance standards — minimum coverage, mandatory tests for critical paths. Designs shared testing infrastructure — fixtures, factories, custom matchers for the organization's React Native projects.

Security · 2

Shapes the enterprise authentication strategy for mobile applications. Defines IAM architecture — centralized auth service, SSO across apps, device trust. Designs zero-trust security model for mobile clients. Coordinates compliance — GDPR consent, biometric policies.

Shapes the enterprise security strategy for mobile development. Defines compliance framework — OWASP MASVS, GDPR, SOC2 for mobile applications. Designs security architecture — secure SDLC, incident response plan. Coordinates security practices across mobile teams.

AI-Assisted Development · 2

Shapes the organizational strategy for AI-assisted development across mobile teams. Evaluates ROI from AI tool adoption in React Native workflows. Defines policies — code security, IP protection, acceptable use cases. Designs AI integration into the mobile application SDLC.

Shapes the organizational GitHub Copilot strategy for mobile teams. Defines licensing, security policies, code ownership for AI-generated code. Evaluates Copilot Enterprise for the organization — knowledge bases, custom models. Coordinates adoption across mobile and backend teams.

Architecture & System Design · 2

Shapes enterprise Clean Architecture standards for mobile development. Defines reference architecture for React Native applications with clean layers, reusable domain and data layers. Designs architectural fitness functions for automated architectural rule enforcement.

Shapes enterprise mobile application architecture. Defines strategy — React Native vs Native vs Hybrid for different products. Designs platform architecture — shared SDK, design system, common services. Coordinates architectural standards across the organization's mobile teams.

Version Control & Collaboration · 2

Code Review Expert

Shapes organizational code review standards for mobile development. Defines review processes for cross-team PRs — shared libraries, design system. Designs review automation — AI-assisted review, architectural checks. Coordinates knowledge sharing through reviews across teams.

Git Advanced Expert

Shapes organizational Git workflow standards for mobile projects. Defines repository management strategy — monorepo vs polyrepo for React Native. Designs Git infrastructure — branch protection, automated releases, cross-repo dependencies for mobile applications.

Performance Engineering · 1

Shapes organizational mobile application performance standards. Defines performance culture — mandatory benchmarking, performance reviews every sprint. Designs centralized performance dashboard for all React Native applications. Defines percentile-based SLAs for the organization.

Additional skills

Not assessed by the team, but part of the self-assessment and the development plan.

AWSCursor IDEDatabase IndexingDockerKubernetes CoreMultithreadingNetwork FundamentalsOpenTelemetryOWASP & Application SecurityPostgreSQLPrometheus & GrafanaPrompt Engineering for CodeRedisStructured LoggingTerraform
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} in the open competency matrix: 51 skills across 5 levels. The matrix is free for individuals and stays free.