Senior Software Engineer, Native Desktop (macOS/Windows)

Senior Software Engineer, Native Desktop (macOS/Windows)

A fast-growing, well-funded AI startup is hiring a Senior Software Engineer, Native Desktop (macOS/Windows) to build a high-performance, deeply integrated desktop product across macOS and Windows.

This is not a standard frontend role, and not an IT / systems administration role. We're looking for someone who can own the desktop layer of a production app: native OS behavior, process architecture, background services, permissions, system events, performance, memory, native modules, and the bridge between Electron and the operating system.

The app is currently built in Electron, but we're increasingly extracting performance- and OS-sensitive functionality into native code. The right person knows how to make desktop software feel fast, reliable, lightweight, and truly native. The native layer is currently in Rust — you don't need to be a Rust expert, but you should be glad to build in it (we're improving it, not rewriting it).

What you'll do

- Build and improve a high-performance desktop app across macOS and Windows

- Own OS-level behavior: windowing, lifecycle, permissions, notifications, background processes, installers, updates, system events

- Build native modules and system-level integrations where Electron isn't enough

- Optimize for CPU, memory, battery, startup time, latency, and stability — including on older machines

- Build logic for user activity, app state, and meeting detection (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet)

- Build a reliable background daemon/service that persists on the user's machine

- Support lightweight local AI models running on-device

- Work across Electron, native code, IPC, background agents, and frontend architecture

What we're looking for

- Strong experience shipping production desktop software on macOS and/or Windows (macOS depth is especially valuable)

- Hands-on experience with real-time audio processing and/or real-time network processing

- Native development in Swift, Objective-C, C++, C, C#, Win32, Rust, or similar

- Deep understanding of process architecture, IPC, memory/CPU usage, permissions, windowing, background services, installers, and auto-updates

- Comfort working close to the OS — and the judgment to move between low-level implementation and high-quality product experience

- Strong ownership and problem-solving; happy to stay hands-on (this is a hands-on role, not a hands-off lead seat)

Nice to have

- Electron internals: native modules, IPC, OS integrations, packaging, performance

- Experience with sensitive permissions (microphone, screen recording, accessibility, notifications)

- Background agents/daemons built to run reliably across crashes and updates

- Native UI work (parts of the app may move from Electron to native over time)

- Local inference / on-device workloads

- Cross-platform: both Windows and macOS internals

Relevant backgrounds

Electron apps with native integrations, macOS/Windows productivity apps, developer tools, meeting/video/audio apps, remote desktop tools, endpoint agents, system utilities, performance-sensitive desktop software, or local AI apps.

Compensation: up to $220K + equity, depending on experience.