Senior Android Engineer

Almost out of storage, a hand-me-down Android tablet still installs Tatako, and the octopus waves hello. That app is yours.

Tatako is hiring its first Senior Android Engineer to build the app families will get from Google Play and make it run well on the phones and tablets they already own. The architecture, the build and every choice that keeps it light on a low-end device are yours.

About Tatako

Tatako makes short spoken English lessons for little ones. A lesson takes about five minutes, there is nothing to read, and a small round octopus keeps everyone company. He has eight arms, no socks, and usually loses count at seven.

Spanish stays the language of home, and Tatako adds a little English on top. An optional Spanish guide voice explains what to do and switches off anytime. Every lesson has three small steps: Hear it, say it. Touch it. Name it. In the last step the picture comes back without the word, and the child names it first.

The course has 369 first words and phrases, from “hello” and “mommy” to colors, animals and what the teacher says at preschool. Tatako works in the browser on any phone or tablet, and we start with Spanish-speaking families across the United States.

The role

• Remote and full-time, open to candidates who live in Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee or Arizona
• Fluent English
• You report directly to the founders

By day 90, the Android app runs every lesson in Google Play’s internal testing, starts quickly on a low-end phone, and shares progress with the web without losing a mark.

What you will do

• Make a low-end phone feel quick: Baseline Profiles and Macrobenchmark on startup, Perfetto traces for every janky frame, memory kept in check on devices with little to spare, and Android vitals watched after each release.
• Handle audio the Android way: Media3 managing audio focus, a pause when headphones unplug or a WhatsApp voice note plays, and each word’s three plays in Hear it, say it kept in time.
• Fit Touch it to every screen: big hit areas, tablets in any orientation and in split screen, as the newest target API level requires, and a back gesture that never ends a lesson by accident.
• Wire the octopus into the lesson with the Rive Android runtime: one shared file, his moves tied to the three steps, and the renderer picked to stay smooth on weak GPUs.
• Sign families in with Google through Credential Manager, keep the grown-up’s marks in Room until WorkManager can send them, and match the progress the web shows.
• Meet Google Play’s Families policy in the code: no advertising ID, no AD_ID permission, no ad tracking in the lessons, every library vetted, and a Data safety form that matches what the app does.
• Keep the install small enough for a crowded phone: Android App Bundles, R8 shrinking, and audio and pictures for the 369 words and phrases fetched theme by theme instead of packed into the download.

What you bring

• 5+ years building Android apps in Kotlin, including a Google Play launch you led.
• Modern Android: Jetpack Compose, MVVM, Hilt, coroutines and Flow, and a module graph that stays clean as features land.
• A performance habit: you profile before you optimize, on the cheapest phones in the store.
• Gradle you can tame: a remote build cache, KSP instead of KAPT, and CI that stays quick as the app grows.
• Android audio in depth: focus changes, ducking, Bluetooth delay and playback that holds its timing.
• The Families policy and COPPA read like a spec to you, and an SDK in doubt stays out.

Bonus points

• You have built an app that shines on Android tablets, not only phones.
• You have shipped the Rive Android runtime or custom Canvas drawing in production.

Why you will love it

• You decide how the octopus feels on Android, from a new Pixel to a cracked-screen phone in the back seat.
• The Google Play launch is yours, from internal testing to the day “Coming soon” turns into Install.
• A clear bar for craft: five minutes of lesson, and not one of them spent waiting.

How to apply

Meet the octopus at tatako.com, then email [email protected] with your LinkedIn profile or portfolio. Make sure it shows an Android app you shipped on Google Play.

Apply by email

If your experience matches the role, our team will get in touch to discuss next steps.