About the Job
AOA is hiring a Senior Android Engineer to build the native Android experience that runs on a custom ARM-based embedded device, not a phone. This is a full-stack device role that spans low-level hardware integration up through the companion mobile app. You will own the Android architecture for purpose-built hardware: an offline-first, modular system with encrypted per-profile storage, designed so a great experience holds up on real hardware with constrained resources.
This is the senior technical owner role for the device's Android experience. We keep specifications lean because we trust strong engineers to think deeply, resolve open architecture decisions, and shape the technical path forward. You will integrate the device's onboard cameras, sensors, controlled lighting, and physical hardware controls used as the primary navigation input instead of touch, build the shared abstraction layers the rest of the app consumes, and connect the device to the world through Bluetooth audio, Wi-Fi sync, OTA updates, and companion apps.
You will operate independently across the device and companion-app surface, partnering with designers, the product owner, and any hardware or firmware counterparts to move work forward with clarity and care. As an AI-native agency, we use modern AI coding tools and agents to increase speed, quality, and focus, while keeping strong human judgment at the center of the final product.
You may be a strong fit if you are a senior Android engineer who has built for real devices or embedded hardware, not only phone apps, takes pride in software that works close to the metal, enjoys turning ambiguity into thoughtful implementation, and wants to own the Android work end-to-end with a close-knit team that cares deeply about client outcomes.
Role Details
- Compensation: $5,000 USD per month
- Engagement: Contract (independent contractor)
- Location: Remote, based in Latin America
- Schedule: Available during standard business hours in US Central Time, for strong overlap with the team
- Reports to: Engineering Manager
About AOA
AOA is a growing digital design and development agency that creates high-impact websites, AI-native apps, and standout eCommerce experiences for ambitious modern brands.
We partner closely with eCommerce and SaaS companies to deliver thoughtful, polished work that drives meaningful results and lasting client success. Our work spans strategy, design, development, eCommerce, conversion optimization, and custom application development.
We are a close-knit team where every person has a direct, visible impact on our clients' success and the growth of the company. We value genuine relationships, high standards, ownership, clear communication, and a true commitment to client delight.
As an AI-native agency, we use modern tools to enhance the quality, speed, and clarity of our work, while keeping human judgment, creativity, and relationships at the center.
Responsibilities
- Key Outcome: Deliver high-quality, high-performing embedded Android experiences that AOA is known for, with predictability, agentic-efficiency, and collaborative ownership.
- Own the end-to-end Android architecture for native Android on custom ARM-based embedded hardware.
- Design an offline-first, modular system with local data architecture that can support future cloud sync.
- Design encrypted per-profile storage, the local database, and build variants for the embedded device.
- Resolve open architecture decisions and own the technical path forward.
- Integrate device hardware into the app, including onboard cameras, controlled lighting, proximity sensors, and physical navigation controls.
- Build shared hardware-abstraction layers for camera management, physical input, and device lifecycle behavior.
- Design around display power states, cold boot, power transitions, abnormal shutdowns, and constrained hardware resources.
- Build the on-device Kotlin experience from approved designs and specifications, including a UI navigated by physical controls.
- Ensure core product features work reliably offline.
- Implement Bluetooth audio, Wi-Fi sync, OTA updates, offline device-to-device transfer, and casting or streaming.
- Design connected-device flows to degrade gracefully without bricking the device or corrupting data.
- Build and maintain companion mobile apps and device-to-companion integration, including pairing, transfer, and shared data contracts.
- Meet device performance targets for cold boot, profile switching, and camera initialization.
- Use the device GPU and NPU appropriately for imaging and AR work while managing memory and power limits.
- Turn product-level requirements into clear engineering work, owning the technical “how.”
- Bring strong engineering and UX judgment to the work, rather than building only what is explicitly written.
- Write typed, tested, maintainable Kotlin that follows the existing codebase conventions.
- Verify every feature on real hardware before handoff and catch issues before QA.
- Conduct code reviews and set the review bar for Android work.
- Lead the Android work technically and raise the capability of the intermediate developer on the project.
- Establish the patterns and abstractions other Android work builds on.
- Size your work in points, commit within the monthly delivery cycle, and reliably deliver what you planned.
- Time-box spikes to resolve genuine hardware unknowns before they become delivery risks.
- Use AI coding tools and agents thoughtfully to increase throughput and quality.
- Keep engineering judgment in control of the final output.
- Plan and sequence your work across the device and companion-app surface.
- Surface risks and tradeoffs early, and communicate proactively across a remote team.
Qualifications
- 5+ years building production Android applications in Kotlin.
- Deep, current Android platform expertise.
- Hands-on experience building Android for custom, embedded, or non-phone hardware.
- Experience integrating device hardware such as cameras, sensors, peripherals, or physical controls.
- Experience designing offline-first or local-data architectures with future sync in mind.
- Connectivity experience with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, OTA updates, or device pairing.
- A track record of owning Android architecture end-to-end as a senior engineer.
- Strong judgment in resolving open technical decisions and owning tradeoffs.
- Strong Android fundamentals: lifecycle, state management, performance, and memory.
- Experience taking ambiguous requirements through to production on real hardware.
- A strong quality discipline: typed, tested code and on-device verification before QA.
- Ability to estimate your work, commit within a delivery cycle, and reliably deliver.
- Excellent professional English, spoken and written.
- Strong written communication and proactive, independent work in a fully remote team.
- Reliable overlap with standard US Central Time business hours.
- Fluent, practical use of AI coding tools as part of your engineering workflow.
- Based in Latin America and able to work as an independent contractor.
Preferred Qualifications
- Platform or OS-adjacent work: AOSP-level engineering, native C/C++ via the NDK/JNI, or custom ROM or HAL work.
- Multi-camera work with Camera2 or CameraX, on-device computer vision, or ML and AR using the device GPU/NPU.
- Bluetooth audio (A2DP/HFP), Matter, or Thread.
- Experience building or operating an OTA update pipeline.
- Companion app and device-pairing experience.
- Mentoring or technical leadership of other engineers.
- A portfolio, GitHub, or code samples you can share.
You do not need to check every single box to apply. We know strong engineers bring the right experience in different ways. If you have built Android on real devices or embedded hardware, take real ownership of the architecture, and want to do it at AI-native speed, we would love to hear from you.
