Senior Desktop Software Engineer

Orbit; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

Orbit is building a wearable brain-computer interface and needs an experienced desktop application engineer. You will shape the desktop architecture, choose technologies, and define how the interface and acquisition services interact.

The role focuses on a C++23 stack with Qt 6/Qt Quick, gRPC, and Protobuf for device communication, with a Linux-forward, cross‑platform approach. You will create workflows for connection, self-test, and recording setup, and develop services that coordinate device

Qualifications

• Five+ years of professional experience building substantial desktop applications.
• Strong modern C++ skills and experience with Qt or a comparable GUI framework.
• Experience with event-driven programming and responsive user interfaces.
• Familiarity with asynchronous work, concurrency, and separating presentation from logic.
• Experience integrating services, devices, or data streams into an application.

Responsibilities

• Shape the application architecture, technology choices, and boundaries between the interface and acquisition services.
• Create workflows for connection, self-test, recording setup, and session monitoring.
• Develop acquisition and recording services coordinating device state, local storage, and cloud publication.
• Build responsive interfaces showing session progress, measurement quality, and device status.
• Collaborate with scientists and designers to turn complex instrument behavior into intuitive interactions.
• Design robust session workflows and automated tests, and handle packaging and cross-platform delivery.

Skills

Modern C++

Qt framework

Asynchronous programming

GUI development

Cross-platform

gRPC/Protobuf

Linux development

Education

Bachelors in CS/EE

Tools

CMake

Conan

vcpkg

GoogleTest

Catch2

Qt Test

Job description

About Orbit

We're a team of engineers, neuroscientists, and designers working to deepen our understanding of the human brain. We're building a wearable brain-computer interface and models that decode emotion, with the goal of putting human experience and wellbeing at the center of technology. Our work spans neural sensors, embedded systems, scientific software, and AI.

We're venture funded, with backing from founders and executives across AI, neurotechnology, consumer hardware, and pharmaceuticals, including Google, Hugging Face, Apple, Stability, Microsoft, and Dropbox.

About The Role

Create the application that makes a sophisticated brain-sensing wearable intuitive to use. This is a greenfield opportunity to shape the desktop architecture and user experience, from connecting a wearable to recording and exploring session information.

You'll help choose the technologies and establish the patterns behind a responsive, polished, cross-platform application. A C++23 acquisition service with a Qt 6 / Qt Quick interface built in QML is a leading candidate, with gRPC and Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) for device communication. Our Linux-forward approach and cross-platform goals offer room to build an experience that feels at home across operating systems.

You will

• Shape the application architecture, technology choices, and boundaries between the interface and acquisition services.
• Create clear workflows for connection, self-test, recording setup, and session monitoring.
• Develop acquisition and recording services that coordinate device state, local storage, and cloud publication.
• Build responsive interfaces that make session progress, measurement quality, and device status easy to understand.
• Collaborate with scientists and designers to turn complex instrument behavior into useful, intuitive interactions.
• Design robust session and recording workflows that give users confidence in their data.
• Build simulators, replay tools, and automated tests, and develop packaging and platform integration for cross-platform delivery.

You are

• An engineer with a degree in computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field, and at least five years of relevant professional experience.
• Experienced building substantial desktop applications, with strong modern C++ skills.
• Familiar with Qt or a comparable GUI framework, including event-driven programming and responsive user interfaces.
• Comfortable with asynchronous work, concurrency, and separating presentation from application logic.
• Experienced integrating services, devices, or continuous data streams into an application.
• Interested in shaping a greenfield product and refining the experience through user feedback.
• Someone who cares about the details that make software clear, dependable, and enjoyable to use.

You might also

• Have experience with Qt Quick, QML, Qt Widgets, or model-view architectures such as MVC or MVVM.
• Bring transferable desktop UI experience with GTK, wxWidgets, .NET/WPF, Avalonia, Electron, or Tauri.
• Have built scientific, engineering, media, or instrument-control applications, including data acquisition (DAQ) software.
• Know gRPC, Protobuf, Zarr, or HDF5, or have integrated applications through REST APIs, WebSockets, or inter-process communication (IPC).
• Have used CMake, Conan, vcpkg, GoogleTest, Catch2, Qt Test, or GUI test automation to build and validate native applications.
• Have shipped applications across Linux, Windows, or macOS, including packaging and installation.
• Bring experience with data visualization using VTK or OpenGL, accessibility, deterministic replay, or headless acquisition.

We're looking for a strong foundation and the ability to grow. You don't need experience with every technology we use, and the "You might also" section is entirely optional. If the core work feels like a good match but some details are new to you, we'd like to hear from you. Prior neuroscience or brain-computer interface experience isn't expected.

How we work

We're a small, high-performance team with quick feedback loops and room to experiment. You'll work directly with people across engineering, neuroscience, and design, understand why your work matters, and have real influence over how we build.

We work with modern software and hardware stacks, including C++23, modern Python, and a Linux-forward development environment. We use principled engineering and thoughtful design to explore, build and test, aided by modern agentic workflows. You'll have room to shape both the product and the way we create it.

Compensation Range: $185K - $215K