Mobile Network Engineering on Android

DDMR; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Part time

Job summary

A technology firm in Austin is looking for a skilled Mobile Network Engineer to build a mobile passive metering tool. This role involves collaborating with engineers, improving application security, and deploying the tool for network data collection on Android. Ideal candidates should have strong expertise in Java or Kotlin, a deep understanding of networking protocols, and experience with mobile VPNs.

Qualifications

• Expert-level understanding of Java or Kotlin.
• Experience with networking at all layers of the protocol stack.
• Knowledge of mobile VPN implementations and security.

Responsibilities

• Build a mobile passive metering tool for network data collection.
• Collaborate with engineers to design a mobile metering application.
• Deploy the application to Google Play for usage by research panelists.

Skills

Java or Kotlin expertise

Android SDK knowledge

Networking fundamentals

TCP/UDP, HTTPS understanding

Experience with VPNs

Scripting experience (Python, Ruby)

Familiarity with Git

Tools

Wireshark

Charles

Docker

CI/CD tools

Job description

Note: We are open to remote, part-time, and non-native English speaking applicants for this specialized role.

About the Mobile Network Engineering on Android position

You will build the first prototype of our mobile passive metering tool.Your time will be split:

• 10% sharing your ideas and expertise within your team to help plan and prepare your product initiatives
• 70% building out a passive metering tool that utilizes an on-device mobile VPN
• 10% writing tests, doing code reviews, and continuously improving our overall code quality
• 10% researching and improving your general software development skills

Your job is to help us build and deploy a performant on-device mobile VPN for network-level data collection on Android.In this role you will:

• work with our mobile, data, and front-end engineers to build a design and specification for our mobile metering application
• build the first version of our mobile passive metering tool allowing us to passively collect network traffic data from our opt-in research panelists
• iteratively improve application security and performance to ensure a high quality end-user experience
• deploy the mobile metering application to Google Play for Android store so our panelists can begin using it

Candidate need-to-haves:

We expect expert-level understanding of:

• Java or Kotlin, the Android SDK, and publishing apps in the Google Play Store
• networking at all layers of the protocol stack, and the Android internals which power them
• TCP/UDP, HTTPS networking, SSL/TLS, VPNs, and forward proxies
• Man-in-the-middle attacks and associated tools like mitmproxy
• Certificate-pinning, how it works, and how to detect it

Additionally, we expect significant experience with:

• a scripting language, like Python or Ruby
• support tools like Git, CI/CD, Bash, SSH, Charles, Wireshark, and Chrome DevTools

Candidate nice-to-have:

• Experience with Swift or Objective-C, the iOS SDK, and publishing apps in the iOS App Store
• Experience working with Docker containers or other virtualized environments, and with AWS

We don't expect, but would be impressed by:

• Experience with asynchronous event-driven network application frameworks like netty, libuv, libdispatch, or SwiftNIO
• Proficiency in C/C++
• Exposure to software like NGINX and Apache Traffic Server (ATS)

We will actively evaluate your:

• Ability to explain all of the different layers of the network stack
• Coding in Java or Kotlin, and if applicable, Python and C/C++
• Knowledge of the Android SDK, with a particular focus on it's networking components
• Ability to manage an Android development and testing environment

And we're seeking teammates with the following personality traits:

• You've got a "figure it out" and "get it done" attitude that can break through barriers to execute.
• You're methodical, process-oriented, and are constantly thinking about ways to increase efficiency and generate leverage.
• You're ask for forgiveness, not permission, and respond well to direct feedback when you inevitably make a mistake.
• You communicate very clearly in both spoken and written forms. You're concise, articulate, expressive, and appreciate good grammar whether you're brainstorming with the CEO on Slack or problem-solving with a partner via email.
• You're progressive, inclusive, and egalitarian. You’re cognizant of your ingrained biases and take steps to mitigate and dispel them.

Here are some characteristics we're looking for in our ideal candidate: technical, good communicator, helper, adaptive, critical thinker, creative thinker, fast on your feet, detail oriented, good design sense, constant learner, analytical.

You know what's up:

• You're all about that start-up life. You're motivated by success and have an intrinsic bias towards taking action and ownership.
• You're logical, subscribe to rational thinking, and prefer making data-driven decisions whenever possible.
• You can naturally distill complexity. You break down complicated ideas into their fundamental components for analysis.
• You see both the forest and the trees. You can understand the implications of small changes to the big picture, and can also create a plan for bringing a big picture to fruition one task at a time.
• You understand the cost of indecision and can break through decision paralysis, even when faced with ambiguity.

You may be a good fit for this role if other positions of interest include: mobile developer, Android developer, iOS developer, network engineer

Legalese: DDMR is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. Please, no phone calls or emails. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at DDMR via email, the Internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of DDMR. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by DDMR as a result of the referral or through other means. Notice to Applicants: We reserve the right to research relevant facts about you which are public on social media platforms or other sources over the Internet. We will retain such data only as long as reasonably needed.