Android Systems Engineer

About Halcyon Labs All children have immense potential, but hundreds of millions don’t have access to the learning they need. Halcyon Labs believes that every child should be empowered with the basic right to literacy and numeracy. We provide an innovative education technology solution and implementation model to the global literacy/numeracy learning crisis using the onebillion application and various toolkits and systems to support implementation. Our model is massively scalable, evidence-based, and can deliver foundational learning to millions of the most marginalized children. Halcyon Labs partners with governments, organizations, and communities to provide child-directed, tablet-based learning that is accessible, effective, and affordable. We are incorporated in California (United States) as a nonprofit organization, but operate in Sub-Saharan Africa through locally-registered entities in Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. Learn more on our website . Role Overview The Android Systems Engineer will play an instrumental role in carrying out Imagine’s mission, to design, test, and scale tablet-based learning solutions that enable children to become literate and numerate. They will join a highly committed and collaborative team working to empower every child, everywhere to achieve their full potential. They will work directly with the Head of Technology, Director of Product, software engineers, device manufacturers, and external technical partners to build, maintain, and improve the Android tablet platform that supports Imagine’s programmes. They will report into the Head of Technology. Over the next six years, Imagine’s goal is to serve more than 10 million children in at least four countries, ultimately achieving three times the typical level of literacy and numeracy outcomes of national education systems in Africa. Building a reliable, secure, and maintainable Android device platform is key to achieving this goal while delivering the programme at less than $5 per child per year. This is a systems engineering role with a primary focus on Android firmware, bootloader/BSP work, device configuration, and long-term device maintainability across tablet hardware variants. The role will also contribute to Android application development and diagnostics tooling where close integration with the device platform is required. A major near-term priority will be supporting component changes in Android tablets, including MediaTek-based devices, while preserving a safe and consistent software experience for existing and future deployments. Key Responsibilities Android Systems Design Collaborative Requirements Gathering: Engage with engineers, product managers, operations teams, contract manufacturers, Industrial Design Houses, and other stakeholders to understand device, programme, manufacturing, and support requirements. Platform Architecture: Design maintainable Android device software architectures that can support multiple tablet hardware variants while preserving a consistent user and operational experience. Hardware/Software Compatibility: Assess the impact of component changes, including DDR memory, storage, displays, touch panels, radios, batteries, and sensors, on Android firmware, kernel, applications, factory tools, and OTA updates. Technical Documentation: Create clear technical design documents outlining Android platform architecture, boot flow, device configuration, build process, flashing process, factory dependencies, and validation requirements. Risk Assessment & Mitigation: Identify technical risks in the tablet platform, supply chain, firmware dependencies, secure boot configuration, and update process, and develop practical mitigation plans. Security & Compliance: Integrate secure Android platform practices, including secure boot, verified boot, signing, device hardening, data protection, and responsible handling of keys and credentials. Android Firmware, BSP & Bootloader Development: SoC Vendor Platform Engineering: Work with SoC vendor (e.g. MediaTek) based Android tablet platforms, including vendor BSPs, bootloaders, preloader and early boot components, kernel configuration, device trees, and Android system images. Component Integration: Verify whether new hardware components can be supported by existing firmware and work with manufacturers or IDHs to update early boot, kernel, and Android configuration where needed. Bootloader and Kernel Work: Modify, build, test, and document bootloader, kernel, device tree, vendor image, and related Android platform components. ROM Compatibility: Develop practical approaches to support old and new tablet hardware variants through a single Android image, unified kernel/system image, variant detection, or a clearly documented alternative where a single image is not technically feasible. Vendor Collaboration: Work directly with contract manufacturers, IDHs, and component suppliers to obtain technical data, source drops, build instructions, signed bi