Desktop Engineer

Town; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Town is seeking a Desktop Engineer to own the macOS client end-to-end. You will build a fast, deeply integrated macOS app that lives in the menu bar, understands user context, and acts proactively.

You will own architecture, OS integration, performance, and the release pipeline, shipping a real Mac app that users love. You have shipped a Mac app end to end, including signing, notarization, and updates, and you thrive working across the backend, AI teams, and security partners to deliver a

Qualifications

• Extensive experience building native macOS (and iOS) applications.
• Fluent in AppKit and SwiftUI and know when to reach for each.
• Shipped a Mac app end to end, including signing and updates.

Responsibilities

• Build and own Town's native macOS app in Swift, SwiftUI, and AppKit — architecture, features, and polish.
• Go deep on the OS: menu-bar, background agents, global shortcuts, notifications, and Accessibility APIs.
• Make an always-on client that is fast, light, and jank-free.
• Own the release pipeline: signing, notarization, sandboxing/entitlements, crash reporting, and auto-update.
• Handle sensitive user data on-device with strong privacy practices, coordinating with security.
• Collaborate with backend/AI teams to bring Town's agent to the desktop.
• Set the craft and performance bar for the desktop experience and lay groundwork for future platforms.

Skills

Swift

SwiftUI

AppKit

macOS dev

Performance

Security

IPC/XPC

Tools

Code signing

Notarization

Sandboxing

Job description

About Town

We're an applied AI company building a powerful assistant that makes it easy for anyone to create and use software in their everyday work. Town starts from who you are — it builds a persistent model of you (your voice, judgment, relationships, priorities) and does real work on your behalf across every tool you use: email, calendar, docs, Slack, CRM. It doesn't wait to be prompted. It observes, learns, and acts.

We most recently raised a $55M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Forerunner Ventures and continued support from First Round Capital, Alt Capital, and Conviction — plus angels including Adam D'Angelo, Soleio Cuervo, and Immad Akhund.

About the role

Town is most powerful when it's ambient — always there, aware of what you're working on, one keystroke away. The native macOS app is how that happens. We're looking for a Desktop Engineer to own Town's macOS client: a fast, deeply-integrated, always-on app that lives in your menu bar, understands the context around you, and acts the moment you need it.

You'll own the native client end to end — architecture, OS integration, performance, and the release pipeline — and set the craft bar for what a Town desktop experience feels like. The bar is someone who has shipped a real Mac app that people loved to use, and sweats the details that make native software feel effortless.

What you'll do

• Build and own Town's native macOS app in Swift, SwiftUI, and AppKit — architecture, features, and polish.

• Go deep on the OS: menu-bar and background agents, global shortcuts, notifications, EventKit, and the Accessibility APIs that let Town understand and act across other apps.

• Make an always-on client that's genuinely fast and light — low memory, low battery, no jank.

• Own the release pipeline: code signing, notarization, sandboxing/entitlements, crash reporting, and seamless auto-update.

• Handle sensitive user data on-device with the security and privacy it deserves, in partnership with our security work.

• Work closely with the backend and AI teams to bring Town's agent to the desktop natively.

• Set the craft and performance bar for the desktop experience — and lay the groundwork for future platforms.

You might thrive here if you...

• Have extensive experience building native macOS (and/or iOS) applications, with depth in Swift.

• Are fluent in both AppKit and SwiftUI and know when to reach for each.

• Have worked below the UI layer: OS-level APIs, background processes, IPC/XPC, notifications, accessibility.

• Care about performance and polish

• Have shipped and owned a Mac app end to end, including signing, notarization, and updates.

• Want to own a product surface from zero and move at startup speed doing it.

Location

In-person in San Francisco's Financial District, five days a week. Everyone is here to do their best work and make this product a success.