I need a seasoned system-level engineer to build a truly standalone mobile operating system—not just an Android or iOS fork. The goal is to deliver a fully bootable image that ships with: • A visually distinctive, lightweight user interface designed from the ground up for touch • Security enhancements at kernel, system service, and application layers (hardened permissions, secure boot, encrypted storage, etc.) • A native app-store framework so third-party developers can publish, sign, and update apps over-the-air You’ll own everything from low-level board support through to UX polish, so experience with toolchains such as GCC/Clang, device tree configuration, kernel customization, and UI frameworks (Wayland, Qt, or similar) is essential. If you have previous work on AOSP forks, Sailfish, or custom ROMs, please highlight it, but be ready to go beyond simple modifications. Acceptance for each milestone will be based on: 1. Booting on reference hardware or emulator with logs showing a clean kernel. 2. Passing a defined security test suite (we can agree on specifics together). 3. Launching and installing an app through the integrated store without side-loading. Send over a brief outline of your proposed architecture, preferred toolset, and estimated timeline so we can dive straight into the technical details.