Android Lead

Quest Global; Maharashtra; On-site; INR 3,000,000 - 5,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Quest Global is seeking an experienced Android Lead to spearhead the design, development, and evolution of the Android Launcher for TV and STB platforms. The role requires mastery of AOSP internals, Jetpack Compose, and performance optimization across devices.

You will mentor 5–10 senior engineers, define SDK contracts, and coordinate with product, CMS Ops, QA, and firmware teams to deliver robust Launcher capabilities including FOTA-related variants.

Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of Android/Linux architecture (AOSP) for Launcher
• Proficiency in Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, and Android TV UX
• Experience with performance budgets, telemetry, and CI gates

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and evolution of the Android Launcher across devices
• Define Launcher SDK contracts and drive architecture reviews
• Mentor a team of 5–10 Android engineers across feature squads
• Collaborate with CMS Ops, QA, Firmware for end-to-end delivery

Skills

Kotlin expertise

AOSP Launcher

Jetpack Compose

Performance tuning

AI/ML integration

Team leadership

C/C++ (NDK)

Education

BE/BTech in CS/EC

Advanced degree a plus

Tools

Perfetto

Systrace

Android Profiler

Gerrit

Job description

Job Requirements

At Quest Global, it’s not just what we do but how and why we do it that makes us different. With over 25 years as an engineering services provider, we believe in the power of doing things differently to make the impossible possible. Our people are driven by the desire to make the world a better place—to make a positive difference that contributes to a brighter future. We bring together technologies and industries, alongside the contributions of diverse individuals who are empowered by an intentional workplace culture, to solve problems better and faster.

Key Responsibilities

The Android Lead will lead the design, development, and evolution of the system Launcher on Android-based platforms — spanning phones, tablets, and connected TV/STB devices. The role demands a deep mastery of AOSP internals, Jetpack Compose/Kotlin-first UI architecture, and the unique performance, accessibility, and input-model requirements of Android TV & Google TV surfaces.

The incumbent will serve as a technical authority across product, engineering, and platform teams — defining Launcher SDK contracts, driving architecture reviews, and mentoring a team of senior engineers across feature development, FOTA rollouts, and OEM customization layers.

Android TV & STB Platform Expertise

• Architect TV Launcher experiences adhering to Google TV / Android TV UX guidelines, D-pad navigation, leanback patterns, and Leanback/TV Compose APIs.
• Own focus management, spatial navigation engine, and D-pad input routing across the Launcher surface.
• Design OEM-specific overlay and customization frameworks for 4K, 2K STB SKUs.
• Collaborate with CMS and firmware teams on FOTA-linked Launcher variant rollout strategies (phase-based, suffix-gated).

Performance, Stability & Observability

• Define and own Launcher performance budgets: cold-start, frame rendering (Janky Frames <1%), TTID, memory headroom.
• Drive crash/ANR telemetry analysis pipelines (Perfetto, ANR traces, tombstone parsing, SQLiteException correlation).
• Implement automated regression gates in CI for Launcher performance and stability.
• Architect proactive health dashboards integrating device telemetry, firmware version correlations, and user-visible error rates.

AI-Enabled Launcher Features

• Lead technical design for AI-assisted launcher capabilities: semantic app search, contextual recommendations, proactive surfacing.
• Integrate on-device ML models (TFLite, MediaPipe) for usage prediction and personalization without privacy compromise.
• Design integration points for agentic AI orchestration layers (e.g., JioCortex.AI-style microservice mesh) within the Launcher context.

Team Leadership & Mentoring

• Lead and mentor a team of 5–10 senior/mid-level Android engineers across Launcher feature squads.
• Conduct architecture reviews, code reviews, and design critique sessions.
• Define engineering excellence standards: testing pyramid, CI/CD pipelines, and documentation norms.
• Partner with Product, CMS Ops, QA, and Firmware teams to drive end-to-end delivery.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Core Android: AOSP architecture, Launcher3, SystemUI, IPC (Binder/AIDL), WindowManager, ActivityTaskManager
• Kotlin / Jetpack: Kotlin Coroutines, Flow, Jetpack Compose, ViewModel, Hilt DI, Navigation, Room, DataStore
• Android TV / STB: Leanback Library, TV Compose, D-pad/focus engine, Google TV UX guidelines, HDMI-CEC, 4K rendering
• Performance: Perfetto, Systrace, Android Profiler, Janky Frames, TTID, memory analysis, GC tuning
• AI / ML Integration: TFLite, ML Kit, on-device inference, recommendation pipelines, semantic search embedding
• Architecture: Clean Architecture, MVI/MVVM, modular Gradle, SDK design, API versioning, backward compat strategy
• Testing: JUnit5, Espresso, Robolectric, Compose UI testing, screenshot testing, CI/CD pipelines
• Languages: Kotlin (expert), Java (proficient), C/C++ (working knowledge for NDK/HAL), Python (scripting)

Experience Requirements

• Total Android Engineering: 7–10 years
• AOSP Launcher / SystemUI: 5+ years hands-on AOSP development
• Android TV / CTV / STB: 4+ years dedicated Android TV product delivery
• Jetpack Compose: 3+ years production Compose (phone + TV surfaces)
• Technical Leadership: 3+ years leading Architect or Principal-level squads
• FOTA / OTA Systems: Experience with firmware lifecycle, phase rollouts, A/B OTA
• Performance Engineering: Demonstrable ownership of Launcher startup/frame budget

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience at OEMs (Samsung, OnePlus, Sony, Philips, TCL, Xiaomi) or telco device platforms (Reliance Jio, Airtel Xstream, Tata Play).
• Contributions to AOSP upstream (Gerrit patches, Launcher3 bug fixes, or CTS/VTS test additions).
• Experience with Google TV certification and GMS compliance processes.
• Familiarity with content delivery platforms, CMS-driven UI personalization, and A/B feature experimentation on Android.
• Exposure to agentic AI platforms or LLM-based feature integration on Android surfaces.
• Published technical talks, blog posts, or open-source projects related to Android platform/Launcher engineering.
• B.E./B.Tech/M.Tech in Computer Science, Electronics Engineering, or equivalent. Advanced degree a plus.

We are known for our extraordinary people who make the impossible possible everyday. Questians are driven by hunger, humility, and aspiration. We believe that our company culture is the key to our ability to make a true difference in every industry we reach. Our teams regularly invest time and dedicated effort into internal culture work, ensuring that all voices are heard.

We wholeheartedly believe in the diversity of thought that comes with fostering a culture rooted in respect, where everyone belongs, is valued, and feels inspired to share their ideas. We know embracing our unique differences makes us better, and that solving the worlds hardest engineering problems requires diverse ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds. We shine the brightest when we tap into the many dimensions that thrive across over 21,000 difference-makers in our workplace.