How To Become A Senior Android Developer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior android developer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Tao Ju

A Senior Android Developer is responsible for creating, developing, and maintaining applications for use by Android devices. As experts with years of previous experience and dozens of apps in their portfolio, the Senior Android Developer should demonstrate great skill and creativity in terms of programming.

They, amongst other things, analyze, test, and develop Android software, monitor the work of others, inspecting the code for any issues or mistakes, cooperate with other personnel and managers to come up with new project ideas. They may also write code that is meant to be used repeatedly in the same or entirely different projects.

A person seeking work as a Senior Android Developer might be self-taught, but acquiring a university-level degree in a subject such as Information Technology or Computer Science can offer a real leg up in their career. They also need a deep understanding and knowledge of programming languages and platforms and software development. A Developer earns, on average, $58.0 an hour, or $120,630 a year.

What general advice would you give to a senior android developer?

Dr. Tao Ju

Vice Dean for Research & Professor, Washington University in St. Louis

They are not in this alone. The opportunities are out there, but it is up to them to be proactive and take ownership of their career. They should become familiar with and use all of the resources available to them-alumni, faculty and career advisors, job search sites, mentoring programs, career fairs, professional associations, and networking events. Take advantage of their existing network and seek out ways to make further connections. Keep an eye on trends, follow news, and research companies. Dream big but be flexible. In this time of constant transition and change, graduates who can shift their plans to the conditions of the job market will have less stress and more success. Talk with companies they've never heard of and explore careers they've never considered. They might be surprised at what they find and where it leads them. Lastly, remain confident and positive. They've worked hard to get to this point and they can be rest assured that their choice to pursue engineering will pay off in the short and long run.

ScoreSenior Android DeveloperUS Average

Salary

8.1

Avg. Salary $120,330

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.0

Growth rate 21%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 29.79%

Black or African American 4.60%

Hispanic or Latino 8.36%

Unknown 4.85%

White 52.23%

Gender

female 16.20%

male 83.80%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

4.0

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior android developer

Explore senior android developer education requirements

Most common senior android developer degrees

Bachelor's

78.2 %

Master's

19.2 %

Associate

1.4 %

Start to develop specific senior android developer skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	11.80%
Kotlin	9.29%
UI	6.37%
GIT	5.46%
Android Studio	5.29%

Complete relevant senior android developer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior android developers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior android developer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior android developer resumes.

Research senior android developer duties and responsibilities

Manage multiple web and database servers in multiple locations to ensure constant availability, functionality, synchronization and security.
Consume web services and parse JSON files with GSON to fetch data which is used to populate the user interface.
Used animation along with auto layout to implement sliding menu view.
Map and write code to process JSON and make API calls to external systems.

Get senior android developer experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior android developer. The most common roles before becoming a senior android developer include android developer, java developer team lead and mobile applications developer.

Prepare your senior android developer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior android developer resume.

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