Staff Android Engineer

John Lewis plc; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 58,000 - 92,000; Full time

Job summary

John Lewis Partnership is seeking a Staff Android Engineer to join a cross-functional Agile team in London. You will lead Android development (Kotlin/Java) across customer-facing projects, collaborating with iOS, design, QA and product colleagues.

You’ll shape development approaches, provide technical assurance on complex IT initiatives, and mentor engineers while keeping pace with the latest technologies and AI-assisted tooling. Hybrid working with regular office presence is offered.

Qualifications

• Extensive native Android development experience (Kotlin/Java).
• Knowledge of accessibility best practices.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and tooling.
• Familiarity with generative AI tools to enhance productivity.
• Experience with Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP).
• Proficiency in Swift/iOS is a plus.
• TDD and pair programming experience.
• Solid Agile experience (Scrum or Kanban).
• REST API development and consumption.
• MVVM/MVP architectural understanding.
• Leadership or technical decision-making experience.

Responsibilities

• Work as a software engineer specializing in Android within a cross-functional Agile team.
• Collaborate with iOS engineers, QA, design and UX to deliver customer-facing projects.
• Provide technical assurance and shape the development approach for complex IT initiatives.
• Mentor less experienced engineers and support their learning goals.
• Engage with stakeholders and stay current with new technologies and tools.

Skills

Android development (Kotlin & Java)

Accessibility

CI/CD

Generative AI

KMP

Swift / iOS

TDD & Pairing

Agile (Scrum/Kanban)

REST API

MVVM/MVP

Leadership

Tools

Postman

Charles

Bitrise

GitLab CI

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE

As the UK's most successful omni-channel retailer, ecommerce is a key part of our business - we run two of the busiest websites in the UK, driving a significant proportion of our sales. Our engineering practice includes 80+ teams, working on everything from Cloud platforms to mobile apps, from ecommerce functionality to machine learning. Have a quick glance of our Engineering best practices, see our engineers talk about their experience and opportunities to learn and grow; Check out our Tech stack, reach out to us if you have any questions. Visit - https://www.jlpjobs.com/engineering-jobs/

Flexible Working

This is a hybrid working role, therefore your time will primarily be split between working from home (in the UK) and London Head Office / Bracknell Head Office. However, there will also be an expectation to visit other locations as the need arises. Our Engineering team currently works from the office roughly once a week to connect and on a more ad-hoc basis to attend key meetings, but again the frequency is dependent on the business needs.

Salary range: £57,600 - £92,400

Contract type: Permanent

What will you be doing?

You will work as a software engineer specialising in Android development within a cross-functional Agile development team. You'll be working collaboratively with other highly skilled Android Engineers as well as iOS engineers, BAs, Quality Engineers, Designers and User Experience specialists on challenging customer-facing projects. As a Staff Engineer you will have responsibility for the development approach and provide technical assurance on complex IT projects. You will also use your knowledge of software engineering to support shaping of new projects and support the professional development of less experienced software engineers. You will work with a diverse range of technical and non-technical stakeholders which will require excellent communication skills. Learning new skills is extremely important to us. You would be expected to constantly improve your engineering skills and keep up to date with the latest technologies and techniques. In return for your commitment you will receive the support and resources needed to achieve your learning goals.

Essential skills

• Extensive experience in Native Mobile Development in Android (Kotlin and Java)
• Accessibility best practice
• Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery
• Experience with generative AI tools and techniques to enhance development and productivity.
• Experience with Kotlin Multi Platform (KMP)
• Experience with/eager to learn Swift/iOS
• Demonstrable experience in TDD, pair programming
• Agile development methods such as Scrum or Kanban
• REST API development and/or consumption
• Deep understanding of MVVM and MVP
• Significant experience leading teams of people or technical decisions

Desirable skills

• Postman or similar tools
• Charles/Proxyman or similar tools
• Bitrise/Gitlab CI

You will also work closely with the iOS development teams, and will also work with our website and microservice teams, as such any experience in the following areas may also be helpful, but is not required or expected:

• GraphQL
• Microservice Architectures
• Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP or Azure
• Understanding of UX principles
• HTML, CSS, and related web technologies
• Experience with modern JavaScript libraries and tooling, such as React, Redux, Webpack
• Any server side development languages such as Java / Kotlin

Closing Date: January 24, 2027

Pay: £62,900.00 - £115,000.00

Annual Contract Type: Permanent

Hours of Work: 35

Job Level: Partnership Level 6

Where You'll Be Working: London Central Office, 1 Drummond Gate, London, , SW1V 2QQ

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

We're the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We're not just employees, we're Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there's never been a more exciting time to join us. We're ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose. As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we're free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note

It's important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you'll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants. We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview. At the John Lewis Partnership we're not just employees; we're co-owners, and that's why we're called Partners. Being a Partner means not only do we all collectively share the responsibilities of being the UK's largest employee-owned business, but we also share in its rewards and successes. It's this ownership model that makes the Partnership a very unique place to work.