Staff Android Software Engineer - Build and Release

About this role

ABOUT US

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

ROLE SUMMARY

We are seeking a highly skilled Software Engineer specializing in Build DevOps to join our team and support our Build infrastructure, with a focus on Android development. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of the Android build ecosystem, including Gradle and Soong, and the expertise required to achieve high-uptime, high-reliability continuous build and deployment in the cloud. You will work on improving our builds in both reliability and performance, eliminating non-deterministic failures, and directly improving developer productivity. You will help shape our practices to achieve a highly resilient system capable of handling hundreds of thousands of monthly builds with zero tolerance for downtime.

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Take full ownership of Android CI pipelines, providing immediate, daily support for outages and breakages.

- Implement or develop modern distributed caching mechanisms to ensure CI builds happen in minutes instead of hours, and actively diagnose cache failures, misses, or poison.

- Continuously profile build scans to identify trends and common failure modes, buffering developers from context switching.

- Diagnose non-hermetic and non-deterministic behavior within builds and invent defensive mechanisms to prevent future occurrences.

- Tune builds specifically for the unique constraints imposed by containerization and cloud environments.

- Act as a governing body over tool use across teams, defining best practices for clean, sane builds at a large scale.

- Continuously upgrade systems and align our infrastructure with the latest Android build ecosystem best practices.

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Qualifications:

- BS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.

- Deep domain expertise in DevOps and extensive knowledge of the Android build ecosystem.

- Proven experience using Gradle and Soong for both local builds and high-reliability cloud deployments.

- Knowledge of Bazel, Buck, or other similar build system technologies

- Experience managing build architecture at a massive scale (e.g., hundreds of thousands of builds).

- Strong Git skills (repo tools, submodules, git-lfs).

- Proficient with Linux/Bash/Python scripting.

- Passion for build systems, CI/CD, and eliminating developer bottlenecks.

Preferred Qualifications

- GitLab CI experience.

- Virtualization and containerization environment experience (Docker/Podman) to assist with cloud-constrained build tuning.

- Experience transitioning legacy or "script-heavy" build pipelines into modern, scalable architectures.

TOTAL REWARDS

We build the exceptional — and we believe the people doing that work should be rewarded accordingly. In addition to a competitive base salary, full-time positions may be is eligible to participate in our annual company performance bonus program.

Payments are discretionary and not guaranteed; actual amounts depend on company results and the terms of the plan in effect, and require active employment at the time of payout. This role is also eligible for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), subject to board approval and the terms of our equity incentive plans, including applicable vesting requirements.

In addition to our compensation programs, we invest in our people with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, wellbeing, and financial future for full-time employees — including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs. Offerings vary by country. Learn more about our global benefit programs https://rvtech.mybenefits.life/.

External candidates can apply for this role through the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies careers site (https://rivianvw.tech/#careers). If you are a current employee, please apply through our internal job board https://app.ashbyhq.com/internal/job-board/b10a9912-eb45-4a84-9a34-84b2a459923a.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are also committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable fair employment practice laws regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at [email protected].

CANDIDATE DATA PRIVACY

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies” may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data…