System Engineer (Android OS)

  • Full-time

Company Description

Block is one company built from many blocks, all united by the same purpose of economic empowerment. The blocks that form our foundational teams — People, Finance, Counsel, Hardware, Information Security, Platform Infrastructure Engineering, and more — provide support and guidance at the corporate level. They work across business groups and around the globe, spanning time zones and disciplines to develop inclusive People policies, forecast finances, give legal counsel, safeguard systems, nurture new initiatives, and more. Every challenge creates possibilities, and we need different perspectives to see them all. Bring yours to Block. 

Job Description

Within Block's Hardware organization, the SQUID (SQUare AndroID) Platform Team provides the core OS that powers Square's Register and Terminal hardware products. Block takes pride in our product experience from manufacturing to end customer experience, and this team works closely with partner teams throughout the hardware and software product lifecycle, from hardware manufacturing to Android app teams. We work with external vendors on part selection and initial hardware bringup, with a focus on customizing Android for Square's state-of-the-art security posture. You'll report to our SQUID Platform Engineering Manager.

 

Role Location:
We want employees to be able to reside where they feel most creative and productive. You will be part of an org that works across PST and EST time zone(s).  

In this role, you and your direct team will be based in the Pacific and Eastern Standard time zones.  This role is open to all people who can be effective partners with this team, including sharing typical working hours.

 

You Will:

  • Collaborate on system-side code, communication protocol design, and kernel development on Android platforms

  • Improve our Android OS at the frameworks layer, designing features customized for Square’s hardware and security needs

  • Develop and ship new features on our Android OS platform, launching across several products simultaneously

Qualifications

Specific Examples of things you may work on

  • Reading, understanding, and modifying Android AOSP (Android Open Source Project) and Linux Kernel code.

  • Working alongside Android Hardware Vendors, integrating software, and adding features

  • Building out an OS emulator and tooling to allow other Block teams to best utilize our custom Android environment

  • Bring up SQUID on new hardware targets

  • Modifying kernel configs, benchmarking changes, and tuning CPU/Memory/Thermal/Graphics Performance

  • Build out testing and CI systems for automated unit, function, and system level testing

  • Performing Android OS (AOSP + underlying kernel  + drivers) upgrades

  • Adding new features and debugging various software stacks, such as

    • Graphics

    • Wifi 

    • Bluetooth

    • Audio

    • Software Update

Qualifications
 

We are looking for talented software engineers that are interested in working in the domain of embedded and connected devices.  We firmly believe that strong engineers will succeed in multiple domains and have proven this with past candidates.  

 

This role is centric to releasing and maintaining our custom Android OS on our hardware.  This is a large codebase to learn and explore with many facets centered around creating a world class OS and platform for all Block devices.

Additional Information

We’re working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is a proud equal opportunity employer. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. 

We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we’re doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page

Additionally, we consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Perks

We want you to be well and thrive. Our global benefits package includes:

  • Healthcare coverage
  • Retirement Plans
  • Employee Stock Purchase Program
  • Wellness perks
  • Paid parental leave
  • Paid time off
  • Learning and Development resources

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD54566975, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral (formerly Square Crypto) builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD54566975 is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.

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