Software Engineer (Kotlin)

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Description

The Commercial & Digital team is responsible for developing and growing UKTV's revenue streams across sales, distribution, advertising and sponsorship, ventures and digital.

The Digital team are tasked with developing, evolving and implementing UKTV's VoD and digital strategy covering U digital products and platforms, and partnerships.

The team consists of multi-disciplined, talented individuals across several different units: Curation, Product and Production & Development. We are tasked with developing a world-class BVOD service, as well as complementary digital products and partnerships to grow audiences and contribute to the long-term profitability of UKTV.

We've experienced rapid growth in VoD views in 2024, topping 460 million views last year, averaging 1.3 billion viewing minutes a month and almost 6 million registered users. We have ambitious plans to become a VoD destination: delivering new content, features, and functionality to U, our owned and operated VoD product, FAST channels and our pay platform partners.

Purpose of the role

We're looking for a proactive UI developer to join our front-end team. You will be a vital member of our Android mobile codebase. This is an excellent opportunity to take ownership of android mobile development and ongoing maintenance, being a great problem solver and team player whilst collaborating with other developers where required.

This is a great chance to work as part of an Agile team, in Scrum, with opportunity to develop and grow your skills as the main inhouse developer on Android. You will be working in a fast paced, forward-thinking media company, helping to shape the future of television with high profile direct-to-consumer products. Working as part of a squad, you'll be involved in the planning and scoping of complex projects, to facilitate the growth and build of additional functionality across our AVOD products. A proactive nature and keen eye for detail is essential, as is a passion for the world of TV and digital entertainment.

Diversity & Inclusion Commitment

At UKTV, our inclusion vision is to truly represent society in our workforce and on-screen, and create a culture of fairness and respect where we champion difference so that every person feels included and empowered to do their best work. We are committed to ensuring a level playing field at UKTV where all employees and job applicants are given equal opportunity, and that we have diverse voices at the table in everything we do. We welcome applications from everyone and we want UKTV to be a place where you can be your authentic self, give your best and develop your career free from discrimination of any kind.

What we would like you to bring to the role....key experience, knowledge, skills & personal qualities

Key Experience

• Proficiency in Kotlin mobile development for Android OS
• Experience of Android SDK, frameworks and APIs
• Familiarity with cloud services e.g. Firebase
• Knowledge of app deployment processes e.g. Google Play Store
• Experience in UI development on a direct-to-consumer product
• Comfortable writing in cutting edge technologies as well as legacy code
• Familiarity with design patterns and object-orientated programming
• Understanding of version control e.g. Git.
• Understanding of unit testing and/or test-driven development
• Experience working on a direct-to-consumer Android mobile app
• Experience working in an agile development environment, in either Scrum or Kanban

Knowledge

• Strong demonstrable knowledge of Kotlin for Android OS
• Knowledge of video playback, encoding and DRM
• Experience in carbon footprint reduction techniques for development
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines e.g. GitHub Actions
• Knowledge of Next.js, React/React Native framework
• Knowledge of front-end best practices

Skills & personal qualities

• Have the commitment and passion to know the product inside out and strive to constantly improve and iterate
• A solution focused mindset, thinking differently and taking a creative view to resolve any issues
• A team player, collaborating with colleagues in your squad and across the business, to deliver successful projects
• Be aware of ongoing strategic and consumer research and how it affects the evolution of the digital strategy and the broader digital landscape
• Relish participating in multiple projects concurrently requiring excellent organisational skills and being adaptable to changing priorities
• Strong communication skills, knowing when to loop in other teams and escalate issues
• Recognise the importance of soft skills, to positively impact the wider team and facilitate a psychologically safe environment
• A growth mindset, always looking to develop and improve and build on your knowledge

What you will get to work on....key outputs and responsibilities of the role

• Be seen as the in-house expert in Kotlin, with the opportunity to work with contractors when scaling up for larger projects
• Build well-formed and logical code for new functionality and bug fixes across our U platform primarily for mobile
• Implement accessibility features across our app(s)
• Work from supplied designs with a keen attention to detail
• Work with our platform partners to address technical issues
• Work to Agile principles and contribute to stand ups, retrospectives, planning sessions and sprint reviews
• Feed into the prioritisation of work within the front-end development team based on complexity and effort
• Keep the Lead Frontend Developer regularly informed with progress and issues
• Gain and share development experience and knowledge from other front-end members of the team as well as external resources

Anything else for you to know about the role/team....

Being primarily on the Android codebase, you could also get the opportunity to work across our web (Next.js) and CTV applications (Preact).

About UKTV

UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 30 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - U&Dave, U&DRAMA, U&W, U&YESTERDAY, Gold, Alibi and Eden - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to UK viewers through free streaming service U, Sky, Virgin Media, NOW, Freeview and Freesat; and to Irish viewers through Sky, Virgin Media, Eir, Vodafone and NOW. Channel & content availability varies by platform. UKTV's content is also available to UK viewers via dedicated FAST channels on Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee, Pluto TV and Virgin Media.

UKTV is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers. The broadcaster is part of BBC Studios, the UK's most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.