Fire TV Developer - Kotlin

About TEGNA

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) helps people thrive in their local communities by providing the trusted local news and services that matter most. With 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets, TEGNA reaches more than 100 million people monthly across the web, mobile apps, streaming, and linear television. Together, we are building a sustainable future for local news.

We are looking for a skilled Fire TV Developer to join our growing CTV engineering team. In this role, you will build and maintain high-performance streaming applications for Amazon Fire TV using Kotlin and Android-based technologies. You’ll work closely with cross-functional teams to deliver reliable, engaging living room experiences that serve millions of viewers.

Fire TV is a core platform in our Connected TV portfolio. You’ll be responsible for delivering features, optimizing video playback, integrating ad tech and analytics, and ensuring a consistent, performant experience across Fire TV device models. As we prepare for Amazon’s transition to Vega OS and React Native, you’ll also have the opportunity to contribute to our platform migration strategy.

This is a hybrid position based in Knoxville, TN, with regular in-office collaboration across engineering, product, and streaming teams.

Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and maintain Fire TV applications using Kotlin and Android frameworks targeting Fire OS


• Implement and optimize video playback functionality using ExoPlayer and HLS streams for live and VOD content


• Integrate server-side ad insertion (SSAI) via AWS MediaTailor, analytics SDKs, and third-party CTV tools


• Optimize application performance for large-screen experiences, including remote navigation (DPAD), lean-back UI patterns, memory management, and startup time


• Collaborate closely with backend, design, QA, and product teams to define and deliver intuitive CTV user experiences


• Integrate with RESTful APIs, content feeds, and other microservices


• Address platform-specific quirks across Fire TV device models, debugging device-level issues and ensuring stability


• Write clean, modular, and testable code following modern Android architecture patterns (MVVM, Clean Architecture, Dependency Injection)


• Write unit tests and integration tests, and participate in code reviews to maintain high code quality


• Work within CI/CD pipelines for continuous testing and release using GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps


• Participate in sprint planning, daily standups, retrospectives, and cross-pod technical discussions


• Use AI tools to accelerate development, generate documentation, and improve test coverage


• Contribute to release management processes including app store submissions, rollout strategies, and post-release monitoring

Requirements:

• 3–5 years of professional Android development experience with Kotlin


• Experience building and shipping applications for Fire TV or Android TV platforms


• Strong understanding of modern Android architecture patterns (MVVM, Clean Architecture, Dependency Injection)


• Experience with video playback technologies, particularly ExoPlayer and HLS streaming


• Familiarity with RESTful API integration and cloud-native backends


• Experience working in Agile teams with short, iterative release cycles


• Comfortable debugging device-specific issues across Fire TV hardware variants


• Strong communication and team collaboration skills


• Experience with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and modern development workflows

Nice to Have

• Experience with ad tech integration, including SSAI and DAI frameworks


• Familiarity with analytics SDKs and behavioral tracking tools such as RudderStack


• Experience with React Native (relevant as we prepare for Amazon’s Vega OS transition)


• Exposure to other CTV platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, or LG


• Experience with Jetpack Compose for Android UI development


• Familiarity with feature flags, experimentation tooling, and A/B testing


• Experience working in media, streaming, or broadcast environments

Why Join Us

Join an engineering team committed to excellence, innovation, and continuous growth. At TEGNA, you’ll contribute directly to redefining digital media experiences while helping shape a culture built on openness, shared understanding, and deep user empathy.

You’ll work on streaming applications used by millions of viewers, with the opportunity to influence how we build and deliver CTV products across a growing portfolio of connected platforms. We are investing heavily in AI-assisted development, modern cloud-native services, and flexible architecture patterns that allow our teams to innovate quickly while delivering high-quality, high-impact products.

Relocation assistance available for qualified candidates.

Benefits:

TEGNA offers comprehensive benefits designed to safeguard the physical, mental and financial health of our employees and their families. TEGNA offers two medical plan options for full and part-time employees through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, as well as access to dental and eye care coverage; fertility, surrogacy and adoption assistance; disability and life insurance.

Our 401(k) program offers full, part-time and temporary employees the opportunity to contribute 1% - 80% of their pay on a pre-tax basis to TEGNA’s 401(k). Contributions made up to the first 4% of pay are eligible for a 100% match from the company and are 100% vested from day one.

Regardless of participation in TEGNA medical plans, ALL employees and their eligible family members receive nine free virtual doctor’s appointments with a physician through Teladoc, and 12 free annual therapy sessions with a licensed clinician through Spring Health.

TEGNA offers a generous Paid Time Off (PTO) benefit as well as nine paid holidays per year.

* Some jobs are covered by a collective bargaining agreement and thus some or all of the benefits described herein may not apply. For example, some newsroom bargaining unit employees receive health and retirement benefits under plans administered by the union.

EEO statement :

TEGNA Inc. is a proud equal opportunity employer. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, hiring and developing individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences to add to our collaborative culture. We value and consider applications from all qualified candidates without regard to actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, disability, medical condition, enrollment in college or vocational school, political affiliation, military or veteran status, citizenship status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law. TEGNA will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable law. If you are in need of an accommodation in order to submit your application, please email [email protected]

Recruiting Fraud Alert:

To all candidates: your personal information and online safety are important to us. Only TEGNA Recruiters or Hiring Managers will reach out to you regarding consideration of your application or background. Communications with TEGNA employees will either come from a TEGNA email address with a domain of tegna.com or one of our affiliate station domains.

Recruiters or Hiring Managers will never request payments, ask for financial account information or sensitive information such as social security numbers.