Contract AOSP / Android Platform Engineer — Cloud Android Infrastructure

What this is: We run native ARM64 Android 15 (redroid) in containers on cloud ARM servers. A headless Android virtualization platform for automation and scale. We need someone who lives in the AOSP build system, not someone who writes Android apps. These are completely different jobs; please only apply if you've actually built AOSP from source. The engagement: Contract, fixed-price milestones to start, with potential for an ongoing relationship if it's a good fit. Remote. What you'd own: - Reproduce and document our redroid Android 15 image build on a clean build server (first milestone — see screening task). - Maintain and evolve the image: Android security patch updates, version bumps, build pipeline hardening. - Build per-instance device-profile customization — coherent system-property bundles (locale, timezone, build fingerprint, device model) applied at runtime, using redroid's property-override support. - Own the build-to-deploy pipeline: repo/manifest management, custom patches, image packaging, container deployment. Required, you must have done these, and we'll verify: - Built AOSP from source (repo, lunch, make, manifests, local_manifests) and debugged real build failures. - Worked with redroid, Cuttlefish, Waydroid, or comparable container/virtualized Android — or equivalent device bring-up / custom ROM experience (LineageOS, GrapheneOS, etc.). - Comfortable in Android platform internals: build.prop, system properties, the HAL layer, what's baked into an image vs. set at runtime. Linux, Docker, and the ARM64 cross-compilation toolchain. - Git, and a habit of committing your work so others can reproduce it. Bonus - Kernel-adjacent comfort (binder, container isolation patches). - Public contributions we can read — custom ROM commits, AOSP patches, relevant open source. Not what we're looking for: app developers (Kotlin/Java app work is a different role), anyone who conflates "Android development" with "building Android," or "I haven't done AOSP but I learn fast." How we hire: We do a small paid screening task before any larger commitment — real work, real pay, and it's how we assess fit for both sides. We verify deliverables by running them, not by reviewing claims. Direct, evidence-based, fixed-price milestones with sign-off as the payment trigger. To apply: Tell us (briefly) about an AOSP build you've owned — what device/target, what broke, how you fixed it. Link any public work. We read for specifics; generic applications won't get a response.