WhatsApp - Software Engineer (Technical Leadership) - Android

WhatsApp; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

WhatsApp is hiring a Software Engineer (Technical Leadership) for Android to own architecture and deliver high-performance client features across low- and mid-tier devices in India.

You will mentor senior engineers, drive cross-functional initiatives with product, design and data science, and shape the long-term Android roadmap while ensuring reliability and regulatory compliance for payments-related surfaces.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
• 12+ years of programming experience or 8+ years with a PhD.
• Experience communicating and driving cross-functional solutions.
• Experience using data to explain problems and provide solutions.
• Experience leading large cross-functional engineering efforts.
• Proven track record of multi-year roadmaps and executive stakeholder mentoring.

Responsibilities

• Build and ship Android client features with focus on performance and memory usage for low- and mid-tier devices.
• Own Android client architecture for payments, commerce and money-centric flows.
• Collaborate with server and platform teams on API design across Kotlin and Java.
• Set technical direction across multiple teams and own major areas of the product architecture.
• Lead org-wide initiatives and resolve ambiguity in product definition and technical approach.
• Drive engineering standards, quality, and craft to increase impact across the pillar.
• Mentor senior engineers and influence cross-functional partners in product, design and data science.

Skills

Android development

Leadership

Architecture

Mentoring engineers

Cross-functional collaboration

API design

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Android SDK

Kotlin

Java

Job description

More than 3 billion people in over 180 countries use WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends and family, anytime and anywhere. In India, it is also where a great deal of everyday life gets done — people message businesses, coordinate their families, and increasingly send money as easily as they send a message. We are building a new team to take WhatsApp further in that direction. The newly established WhatsApp Services team is focused on making WhatsApp more useful for more of what people already use it for, and on building what comes next. The WhatsApp Services team is treated as a zero-to-one effort so we can move fast, take risks and build as we go — staffed and prioritized, like every other WhatsApp team, from day one. Payments on WhatsApp aren't a bet on paper: live and growing in India, with the existing WhatsApp payments engineering team moving across as the foundation.

WhatsApp - Software Engineer (Technical Leadership) - Android Responsibilities:

• Build and ship client features for WhatsApp on Android, with a focus on performance, reliability and memory footprint on the low- and mid-tier devices that dominate the market.
• Own Android client architecture for services surfaces — payments, commerce and the everyday money-centric flows people already come to WhatsApp for.
• Work across Kotlin and Java with the Android SDK, and partner with server and platform teams on API design.
• Identify and solve the hardest technical problems across the pillar, including finding where new technology can address previously intractable problems.
• Set technical direction across multiple teams and own the architecture for a major area of the product.
• Lead initiatives of org-wide scope, resolving ambiguity in both product definition and technical approach.
• Drive engineering standards, quality and craft across the pillar, and make teams and systems work better to increase their impact.
• Mentor senior engineers, influence cross-functional partners in product, design and data science, and act as a credible co-owner of product outcomes.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams in product management, design, data science and operations to build innovative application experiences.
• Partner with payments, legal, compliance and local operations partners to ship services that meet the reliability and regulatory bar expected in India.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 12+ years of programming experience in a relevant language OR 8+ years experience with a PhD
• Experience communicating and working across functions to drive solutions
• Experience utilizing data and analysis to explain technical problems and provide detailed feedback and solutions
• Experience driving large cross-functional/industry-wide engineering efforts
• Proven track record of planning multi-year roadmap in which short-term projects ladder to the long-term mission
• Experience mentoring/influencing executive stakeholders across organizations

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience building Android applications in Java or Kotlin using the Android SDK
• Experience with multithreading programming and mobile memory management
• Experience optimising for low-end devices, constrained networks and app size
• Experience building for the Indian market, including familiarity with UPI and India's digital payments ecosystem
• In-market experience in India, or experience at an India-based consumer technology or fintech company operating at scale
• Experience designing and operating payment systems at scale, including the reliability, correctness and regulatory requirements they carry
• Background in monetization, payments, commerce or AI/ML products
• Experience establishing the technical foundations of a 0-to-1 organization or a new product area
• Experience setting technical strategy for global, multi-market products, particularly in emerging markets
• Experience as a technical leader across distributed teams in multiple sites
• Familiarity with messaging platforms or mobile-first consumer products, including super-app or founder-led product experience in market
• Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
• Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)
• Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies

About Meta:

Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology. People who choose to build their careers by building with us at Meta help shape a future that will take us beyond what digital connection makes possible today—beyond the constraints of screens, the limits of distance, and even the rules of physics.

Individual compensation is determined by skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Compensation details listed in this posting reflect the base hourly rate, monthly rate, or annual salary only, and do not include bonus, equity or sales incentives, if applicable. In addition to base compensation, Meta offers benefits. Learn more about benefits at Meta.