Android Systems Engineer

Stack

Responsibilities

• ▹Gather requirements from engineers, product managers, operations teams, manufacturers and other stakeholders
• ▹Design maintainable Android device software architectures that support multiple tablet hardware variants with a consistent experience
• ▹Assess the impact of component changes (DDR memory, storage, displays, touch panels, radios, batteries, sensors) on firmware, kernel, applications, factory tools and OTA updates
• ▹Create technical design documents covering platform architecture, boot flow, device configuration, build and flashing process, factory dependencies and validation requirements
• ▹Identify technical risks in the tablet platform, supply chain, firmware dependencies, secure boot and update process, and develop mitigation plans
• ▹Integrate secure Android platform practices, including secure boot, verified boot, signing, device hardening, data protection and responsible handling of keys and credentials
• ▹Work with SoC vendor (e.g. MediaTek) Android tablet platforms, including vendor BSPs, bootloaders, preloader and early boot components, kernel configuration, device trees and Android system images
• ▹Verify whether new hardware components can be supported by existing firmware and update early boot, kernel and Android configuration with manufacturers
• ▹Modify, build, test and document bootloader, kernel, device tree and vendor image components
• ▹Develop approaches to support old and new hardware variants through a single Android image or a documented alternative
• ▹Work with contract manufacturers, IDHs and component suppliers to obtain technical data, source drops, build instructions and signed binaries
• ▹Contribute to Android application development in Kotlin and/or Java, especially where apps interact closely with device settings, diagnostics, provisioning, updates, storage or networking
• ▹Improve device-level behaviour that affects the learning experience: kiosk mode, app launch reliability, offline operation, data sync, storage and power management, recovery from faults
• ▹Write readable, efficient and well-documented code
• ▹Maintain Android ROM build processes, release artefacts, signing steps, versioning and reproducible release documentation
• ▹Develop and execute unit tests, integration tests, automated device tests, hardware validation tests and manual testing
• ▹Integrate code regularly into shared repositories, using automated build and deployment pipelines
• ▹Diagnose and resolve bugs and performance issues across applications, system services, kernel, bootloader and device configuration
• ▹Define and document production flashing, device provisioning, hardware variant detection, factory testing and quality control
• ▹Keep OTA update processes safe for deployed and future devices, including rollback and recovery planning
• ▹Create validation plans and reports covering boot reliability, memory stability, thermal behaviour, storage, battery, networking and field-support scenarios
• ▹Apply security patches, update dependencies and address vulnerabilities promptly
• ▹Fix urgent issues outside regular hours when on the on-call rota

Requirements

• ▹A minimum of 5 years of working experience in Android systems, embedded Linux, firmware or related software engineering
• ▹Hands-on experience with Android BSPs, AOSP concepts, vendor Android builds, bootloaders, Linux kernel configuration and device trees
• ▹Experience with MediaTek / MTK Android platforms, including early boot components, vendor BSPs, kernel/vendor images, flashing tools and production image workflows
• ▹Experience diagnosing hardware/software compatibility issues on Android devices, ideally including DDR/LPDDR memory changes or other significant component substitutions
• ▹Experience developing Android applications or device-side tools in Kotlin and/or Java
• ▹Comfort working across application code, platform configuration, system services, kernel and bootloader boundaries
• ▹Experience with secure boot, Android Verified Boot, signing processes, OTA updates, factory flashing and safe rollback/recovery strategies
• ▹Experience using UART logs, adb, fastboot, vendor flashing tools, crash logs, kernel logs and device test tools to diagnose low-level issues
• ▹Experience writing clear technical documentation for engineering and manufacturing

Soft skills

About the company

Imagine Worldwide is a non-profit that tackles the global literacy and numeracy learning crisis with child-directed, tablet-based learning (the onebillion app). It works with governments and communities in Sub-Saharan Africa and aims to serve more than 10 million children within six years.