Senior Mobile Developer for human rights organization

Commitment: Part-time or full-time
Location: Remote
Deadline: December 10th, 2021, but we review applications as we receive them, so the earlier you apply the better!
Summary: Horizontal is looking for a senior mobile developer experienced with Android and iOS native development. Your primary focus will be on leading our mobile team to develop and maintain Horizontal’s apps. Apply to join a young and growing team developing technology for human rights!

About Horizontal

Horizontal is a nonprofit organization serving frontline defenders, activists and journalists through digital security and tool development. We empower grassroots communities to use technology effectively and to operate safely from surveillance, censorship and repression.

Working at Horizontal

Horizontal’s values drive both our collaboration with partners and our work internally. We believe in the power of group consensus in decision-making, and strive to ensure that all team members are heard and contribute to the success of the organization. Just as important as the success of projects is each team member learning, growing, and feeling fulfilled in their work.

We are a distributed team, with members located on different continents. Team members are free to work from wherever they want as long as they have a good enough connection to join our online meetings and collaborate effectively. While we make sure to respect each other’s boundaries and work/life balance, remote work requires some flexibility to accommodate different time zones.

We are a small team in a young and growing organization. We are intentional in how we develop our organizational culture and processes, and hope to recruit someone interested in being part of this journey and investing themselves for the medium to long-term. 

As a community-centered organization, diversity of life experiences makes a big difference in how we identify needs, and design and implement solutions. As a result, we deliberately seek applicants with different perspectives, identities, and experiences to build an inclusive workplace to better inform our programs and processes. Horizontal is an equal opportunity employer and encourages people of all races, genders, ages, abilities, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply.

Women, People of Color, LGBTQ+, and disabled folks are highly encouraged to apply and self-identify in the application.

The role

Responsibilities

• Developing new Android and iOS apps and adding features to existing apps.
• Leading the high-level design and core architecture of mobile systems.
• Ensuring the success of our mobile apps, including security, performance, and stability.
• Leading a team of mobile engineers, including providing mentoring, code review, support, and spearheading the adoption of new best practices.
• Translating designs and wireframes into high-quality code.
• Identify ideas to improve system performance and impact availability.
• Development of technical specifications and plans.
• Troubleshooting, fixing bugs, and improving app performance.
• Documentation of systems and development processes.

What we need (required qualifications):

• You resonate with Horizontal’s values.
• You have at least 5 years of experience developing Android and iOS native apps, from complex UIs to reliable remote API access and data storage.
• You have experience working on security-focused applications and cryptography.
• You have experience with automated testing (UI testing and Unit testing)
• You are familiar with modular application architectures and design patterns like MVVM
• You are familiar with hacking with Linux OS or have some backend development skills.
• You have experience working with Git.
• You have strong leadership skills. You are able to effectively advocate for preferred ideas, give constructive feedback to empower teammates, and identify areas for improvement in our development processes.
• You pay extremely close attention to details.
• You are flexible. We are a distributed team and remote work isn’t for everyone: it requires discipline and the ability to work independently, communicate daily over several different platforms, and be flexible to accommodate meetings across multiple time zones. You should also be able to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• You are naturally curious, willing to learn from others and to work collaboratively. We’re always striving to get better at what we do and learn new skills or tools, and are not scared to say “I don’t know, I’ll research it”.

What we would like (preferred qualifications):

• You have experience working on civic tech, human rights, internet freedom, social justice, or activism (not necessarily as a developer).
• You are fluent in a language other than English.

What we DON’T need:

• You don’t have to be completely fluent in written and spoken English. We just need you to understand and speak English well enough to ensure that we can work together effectively. 
• You don’t need formal education. We are looking for skill and passion more so than degrees.