Desktop Application Engineer

Full-Time • San Francisco

Slack is looking for an experienced developer to work on the Slack Desktop application, to bring new features to Slack’s desktop apps across Mac, Windows, and Linux.

The Slack Desktop apps are built using diverse technologies such as Electron, io.js, ES6, MacGap, RxJS, and Objective-C, and a great Desktop candidate will feel comfortable switching quickly between environments. They should be familiar with both web-based and native or mobile app technologies and be able to use them successfully to create great experiences for users. While you don’t have to be an expert in all of these areas, being good at learning new things and jumping into projects head-first is a huge plus. We are also very nice people and are happy to help you learn what you need to know to work on Slack.

This position is based in San Francisco and reports directly to the CTO.

If you were to join Slack, here are the kinds of things you would do over the course of a typical week:

• Write great bridge code using libraries such as node-ffi to connect platform code to JavaScript
• Jump into the Chromium and WebKit bug databases to try to track down issues
• Build new features that can support our large-and-growing userbase
• Troubleshoot platform or hardware-specific bugs, like touch screen or driver issues, and write the code to resolve them
• Talk with our front-end team to decide how a Desktop API method should work
• Work with our support team to track down and fix Desktop-specific issues

Here are things that we consider critical to being a Desktop Engineer:

• You have a curiosity about how things work.
• You’ve been writing either web or desktop applications for a while and can point to things you’ve worked on.
• You can jump into situations with few guardrails and make things better.
• You possess strong computer science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, programming languages, distributed systems, and information retrieval.
• You’re a good programmer. You write understandable code with an eye towards maintainability.
• You are a strong communicator. Explaining complex technical concepts to designers, support, and other engineers is no problem for you.You know how the web works. You know HTTP and TCP/IP and what a good API looks like.
• You also know that the internet is a scary place and understand security concepts deeply and can put them into action to protect us and our users.
• You know a desktop or mobile platform really well, and know what it’s like to try to work around quirks in the system.
• When things break — and they will — you are eager and able to help fix things.
• You are someone that others enjoy working with due to your technical competence and positive attitude.

There are a few extra things that would lift you up a couple of notches in our eyes:

• Academic background in computer science (BSc or MSc)
• Experience with Functional Reactive Programming concepts (especially Rx.NET, RxJava, or RxJS)
• Having shipped a desktop or mobile app through at least one major version from start to finish.
• Experience in fast-moving start-up environments

Slack is a team communication tool. It brings together all of your team communications in one place, instantly searchable and available wherever you go. Launched in February 2014 it is now the fastest growing B2B application ever and used by over 1.1 million daily active users. Our investors include Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, The Social + Capital Partnership, KPCB and Google Ventures.

We're a San Francisco-based company founded by core members of the original Flickr team. We are on a mission to make people’s working lives simpler, more pleasant, and more productive. We’ve spent a lot of time creating a welcoming, respectful, and empathetic culture.

Slack Technologies, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer.