Desktop Engineer – AI

A1 is a self-funded AI group, operating in full stealth. We’re building a new global consumer AI application where backend systems are not glue - they are the control plane that connects models, data, users, and product experiences. This is a founding desktop engineering role. You will design and build a high-performance desktop application with deep AI features, tight OS integration, and real-time collaboration - operating under real-world constraints like memory pressure, startup time, large local state, and continuous updates. Why This Role Matters You define how users experience AI-powered collaboration on desktop Your work directly impacts speed, reliability, and trust at scale You solve hard problems at the intersection of OS, frontend, real-time systems, and AI You build production systems used daily — not prototypes You help set desktop engineering standards from day one What You’ll Do Build and maintain cross-platform desktop apps using Electron Design responsive, scalable UI for real-time collaboration Implement desktop-specific capabilities: File system access Native notifications Auto-updates Deep linking Integrate AI-powered features (chat, agents, AI assistance) via backend APIs Optimize memory usage, startup time, and runtime performance Profile and reduce Electron overhead Handle large local state and message history efficiently Ensure smooth real-time updates (messages, typing indicators, presence) Maintain stability across macOS and Windows environments Requirements 4+ years of software engineering experience Hands-on experience building production Electron applications Strong knowledge of: JavaScript / TypeScript React or similar UI frameworks Desktop application lifecycle Experience with: IPC communication Local storage (SQLite, IndexedDB, filesystem) WebSockets or other real-time transport Strong debugging and performance profiling skills Nice to Have Experience integrating AI features in production: LLM-based chat AI agents Streaming AI responses Understanding of AI constraints: Latency vs UX tradeoffs Cost considerations Non-deterministic outputs Experience handling large local datasets or long-lived app sessions Familiarity with native OS behaviors on macOS or Windows Our Team & Culture We operate as a dense, senior, high-performance team. We value clarity, speed, craftsmanship, and relentless ownership. We behave like founders — we build, ship, iterate, and hold ourselves to a high technical bar. If you value excellence, enjoy building real systems, and want to be part of a small team creating something globally impactful, you’ll thrive here. About A1 A1 is a self-funded, independent AI group, focused on building a new consumer AI product with global impact. We’re assembling a small, elite team of ML and engineering builders who want to work on meaningful, high-impact problems.