Android Architect

Cape•New York, NY

21d

About The Position

Cape was founded in early 2022 by Palantir and Anduril alums with deep expertise in privacy and national security. While running Palantir’s US national security business, our CEO became passionate about privacy and security on mobile devices. Our mission is to be a force for good in global wireless. At Cape, we are not just another cellular service provider; we are the architects of a privacy-centric movement that starts with the devices in your pocket. We are building a cellular network that helps citizens, including those responsible for our nation’s security, regain control of their own data. We believe that where we are, where we go, and whom we are with are among our most personal information and should be kept private. Privacy is not something you achieve by limiting yourself or by doing less, it is a set of features to be built so you can do more. We have raised money from Andreessen Horowitz and other top-tier VCs, and are excited to grow the team. We are relentless builders, constantly innovating and pushing the boundaries of what a telco can do. At Cape we trust our teammates to be great, and expect them to make profound impact. As a member of our team, you will collaborate with some of the smartest engineers, architects, and builders anywhere, working across organizational lines to deliver for our customers, every time. The Android Architect is responsible for setting the technical direction for Cape’s Android application and ensuring the team delivers a product that is stable, scalable, secure, and deeply aligned with user and business needs. This person is not just the most senior Android engineer in the room. They are the owner of Android technical quality, architecture, and engineering standards. They make thoughtful decisions about how the Android ecosystem should be built, where the codebase should evolve, and how the team balances speed with long-term maintainability. They partner closely with Product, Design, Backend, Security, and company leadership to translate business priorities into strong technical execution. They are expected to lead through influence, raise the bar for engineering craftsmanship, and create clarity in complex technical spaces.

Requirements

Deep expertise in Android development, architecture, and modern mobile engineering patterns.
Strong command of Kotlin and contemporary Android frameworks, tools, and best practices.
Strong understanding of application architecture, state management, networking, concurrency, testing, and release management.
Ability to evaluate technical tradeoffs with good judgment.
Sees beyond individual tickets and understands how technical decisions impact the broader system over time.
Designs with scale, maintainability, reliability, and team velocity in mind.
Anticipates future needs and avoids solving today’s problem in a way that creates three worse ones next quarter.
Makes thoughtful, high-quality technical decisions in ambiguous or fast-moving environments.
Knows when to invest deeply and when to choose the pragmatic path.
Escalates risks early and communicates technical constraints clearly.
Leads through credibility, clarity, and consistency.
Gives strong technical feedback directly and constructively.
Creates alignment across engineers and cross-functional partners without creating drama or bottlenecks.
Holds a high bar while still being someone people want to build with.
Takes responsibility for the health, quality, and direction of the Android app.
Proactively identifies issues and opportunities without waiting to be asked.
Follows through reliably and drives work to completion.
Communicates technical concepts clearly to both engineers and non-engineers.
Works effectively across Product, Design, Backend, Security, and leadership.
Can disagree without becoming territorial, and can align without becoming passive.

Responsibilities

Define and drive the long-term technical architecture for the Android application.
Make sound, pragmatic decisions about frameworks, patterns, libraries, and system design.
Ensure the Android codebase is scalable, maintainable, testable, and resilient as product complexity grows.
Identify and proactively address technical debt, performance bottlenecks, and architectural risks before they become business problems.
Establish clear standards for code quality, modularity, reliability, observability, and release readiness.
Lead the technical execution of complex Android initiatives from design through launch.
Break down ambiguous product or technical problems into clear implementation plans.
Partner with Engineering and Product leadership to scope work appropriately and make smart tradeoff decisions.
Ensure the Android team ships high-quality work with urgency, while preserving the long-term health of the platform.
Act as a technical escalation point for difficult engineering issues, production incidents, and cross-functional dependencies.
Provide day-to-day technical leadership to Android engineers through design reviews, code reviews, pairing, and coaching.
Raise the bar for engineering judgment, code quality, and problem-solving across the team.
Create clarity for other engineers by documenting architectural decisions, technical strategy, and implementation patterns.
Mentor engineers at varying levels of seniority and help grow stronger ownership and technical depth across the team.
Influence technical decisions beyond Android, especially where mobile architecture intersects with backend systems, security, platform, and product experience.
Partner with Product and Design to ensure technical implementation supports a high-quality, intuitive user experience.
Bring an engineering perspective early into planning conversations, helping shape solutions rather than just executing tickets.
Collaborate with backend and platform teams to define clean APIs, efficient integrations, and scalable mobile-friendly systems.
Help leadership understand technical constraints, risks, and opportunities in a way that enables better decision-making.
Advocate for Android users and for a high-quality mobile experience as a core part of the product.
Ensure the Android application meets high standards for reliability, privacy, and security.
Improve observability, monitoring, release processes, and incident response for the Android app.
Drive best practices around app performance, crash reduction, offline behavior, and release stability.
Partner with Security and Infrastructure teams to ensure the app is built and operated responsibly.
Build systems and processes that allow the Android team to scale without quality falling off a cliff.