Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community.

Rakuten is the most rewarding way to shop, giving millions of members Cash Back when they buy from their favorite brands. As a leading shopping platform, Rakuten partners with thousands of top brands across apparel, beauty and wellness, grocery, travel, on-demand services, subscriptions, and dining, helping members save on everyday purchases. Since 1999, Rakuten members have earned more than $4.6 billion in Cash Back, making it the largest Cash Back platform of its kind. Learn more at Rakuten.com.

Job Summary We are seeking a visionary Principal Android Engineer to lead the evolution of our client application architecture and platform capabilities. You’ll define and drive the technical direction for Android across core frameworks, agile rendering systems, and design system integrations that power scalable mobile experiences.

You will collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and engineering teams to deliver high-performance, accessible, and localized mobile applications. As a technical leader, you will shape reusable application frameworks, UI component systems, and SDK integrations that enable consistent and high‑quality implementations across multiple client platforms.

This high‑impact position influences architectural standards, mentor engineers, and champion best practices in performance, accessibility, localization, multi‑region capabilities and platform scalability. If you are passionate about building foundational mobile platforms, enabling engineering excellence, and shaping the future of large‑scale mobile applications, we want you on our team.

In this role, you will design, develop, and maintain software applications to meet user needs and business objectives. You will analyze requirements, write clean and efficient code, and collaborate with cross‑functional teams to deliver scalable and user‑friendly applications. Your role will involve debugging and improving existing applications, ensuring optimal performance, and integrating new features to enhance functionality. With a strong foundation in application development and problem‑solving skills, you will contribute to creating innovative solutions that align with organizational goals.

Key Responsibilities

Advises senior management of strategic opportunities and risks associated with emerging technologies and industry trends.

Applies advanced knowledge of software engineering principles to develop and implement solutions that meet complex business objectives.

Conducts advanced research and analysis to identify innovative approaches for improving system performance and scalability.

Consults on critical design and development decisions to ensure alignment with organizational strategy and compliance standards.

Devises robust architectures and frameworks that optimize application functionality and future scalability.

Leverage and guide adoption of modern AI and machine learning strategies, including generative AI and intelligent automation, to enhance developer productivity, optimize application capabilities, and drive innovation in mobile platform solutions.

Directs team to implement best practices and adhere to established standards for coding, testing, and deployment.

Define standards and best practices for API integration and client‑service communication to ensure scalability, reliability, and maintainability across mobile platforms.

Drives cross‑functional collaboration to ensure successful execution of high‑priority projects.

Facilitates knowledge‑sharing sessions to mentor less‑experienced team members and advance organizational technical expertise.

Masters emerging technologies and adapts them to enhance the organization’s competitive position in the market.

Define and drive the long‑term Android platform technical roadmap aligned with product strategy and business objectives.

Establish and participate in architecture governance and technical design review processes to ensure consistency, scalability, and adherence to engineering standards across client platforms.

Evaluate, pilot, and guide adoption of emerging technologies, frameworks, and tools that improve platform capabilities and developer productivity.

Identify, prioritize, and mitigate technical risks and architectural debt that could impact plat

📌 Principal Android Engineer (Winnipeg)
🏢 Rakuten Advertising
📍 Winnipeg