Do you want to do work that matters? Do you want to help improve the lives of some of the most hardworking people in Africa, while also reducing carbon emissions? Do you want to use your skills to advance Africa towards a zero-carbon future, not just to make a living? Ampersand is your answer.

About Ampersand

Ampersand has grown from a tiny, bootstrapped R&D garage project in 2018 into East Africa’s leading electric vehicle operation, with a team of over 170 staff drawn from diverse backgrounds and we plan to see all 5 million taxi motorbikes in East Africa electric by 2030. We are rapidly scaling our operations, and we are looking for innovative professionals who are passionate about clean energy and environmental impact to lead and contribute to our rapid growth.

About the role

Ampersand energy ecosystem consists of a fleet of batteries, motorcycles and battery swap stations across Rwanda and Kenya. As part of this network, motorcycle taxi drivers and swap station attendants interact multiple times a day as its users. Ampersand develops and maintains several mobile apps for facilitating these interactions.

We are constantly developing new features for satisfying the needs of our customers and users following a mobile-first approach and looking forward to strengthening our team with mobile development capabilities.

This role would be in the Software Engineering team of the Engineering organization. Your objectives will include the following:

• Improve pipelines for mobile development.
• Maintain existing mobile applications: Driver App and Swap App.
• Develop new features collaboratively with the Software Engineering team.
• Ensure that new features are tested properly (also in the field).
• Introduce automated testing frameworks and tools for mobile development.
• Test applications with real users and other stakeholders and collect feedback to iterate.
• Help to shape Ampersand’s mobile applications and products through data-driven decision-making through analytics tools.

Ampersand is a good fit if:

• You love to see your impact on the product as quick as possible.
• You love complicated systems where optimization is key.
• You are not afraid of infrastructure projects and like playing with hardware.
• You like working in a fast-moving agile environment.
• You are motivated by personal growth and seeing your teammates grow and develop.
• You are looking for an entrepreneurial company that values innovation and strong execution.
• You value diversity and community in the workplace.

Minimum requirements

Across all our roles, we look for professionals with strong work ethic, and the ability to manage shifting priorities and unforeseen challenges. For this role specifically, you will have:

• Minimum of 3 years of prior experience in mobile application development (Android).
• Our current stack consists of Kotlin 1.5, Java 11.0.2, Gradle 7.0.2, JUnit 4, Firebase Analytics & Rollbar. Experience in some or all of these technologies is preferred.
• A good understanding of MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) architecture and a clear understanding of separation of concerns (UI from business logic).
• A good understanding of Jetpack architecture components (Navigation component, Room (Reactive SQL local storage DB) ViewModel (mediator between UI and Model), Viewbinding.
• Familiarity with Single Activity architecture.
• A deep understanding of Fragments for modularization of the UI.
• A good understanding of Android Services for long-running or persistent background tasks.
• Familiarity with Camera2 API and Google ML Kit.
• Experience with multithreading, especially using Kotlin Coroutines for asynchronous code execution.
• Good understanding of networking on Android using Retrofit and Moshi/GSON.
• Experience with dependency injection using Hilt or Dagger2.
• Experience with Google Maps SDK on Android.
• A strong work ethic, and the ability to manage shifting priorities and unforeseen challenges.
• Strong communication skills with a supportive and nurturing disposition
• (Bonus) Experience in a start-up environment.

Timing

ASAP

Compensation:

A competitive compensation package commensurate with local market rates and experience including health insurance.