Staff Android Engineer

John Lewis; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 63,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

John Lewis is seeking a Staff Engineer specialized in Android to drive native mobile development in a cross-functional Agile team. You will collaborate with iOS, QA, UX and backend engineers on customer-facing projects, guiding architectural choices and mentoring junior engineers.

The role emphasizes learning, staying current with technologies, and contributing to engineering best practices. The position is hybrid with London/UK presence and a typical weekly office visit.

Qualifications

• Experience in native Android development (Kotlin/Java).
• CI/CD and Agile practices.
• Ability to lead teams and make technical decisions.

Responsibilities

• Develop Android apps within cross-functional Agile teams.
• Provide technical assurance on complex IT projects.
• Mentor less experienced engineers and shape new projects.
• Communicate effectively with stakeholders.

Skills

Android dev

Kotlin

Java

Accessibility

CI/CD

AI in dev

KMP

TDD

Pair programming

Agile

Scrum/Kanban

REST API

MVVM/MVP

Team leadership

Tools

Postman

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

GCP

Azure

GraphQL

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/

At a glance

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 technique s. In return for your commitment y ou 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)
• 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

You will be working 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:

• Postman or similar tools
• Charles/Proxyman or similar tools
• Bitrise/Gitlab CI
• Swift/iOS
• GraphQL

Desirable skills

• 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

November 22, 2026

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