Staff Software Engineer, Electron & Browser Infrastructure - Slack Desktop

Slack; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 197,300 - 313,700; Full time

Job summary

Slack is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to enhance our Desktop Framework, which is crucial for the Slack desktop client across platforms. This role entails collaboration with various teams to drive productivity and stability while maintaining high-quality systems.

The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of expertise in client-side coding, significant experience with Chromium, and a strong ability to tie technical requirements to business objectives. Compensation ranges from $197,300 to $313,700 annually, with additional benefits.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience writing client-side code for modern web applications.
• Deep experience with large-scale open-source projects.
• Exceptional skills in tying technical infrastructure to company goals.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional initiatives to increase developer productivity.
• Contribute to architectural decisions for product features adaptations.
• Maintain and improve core systems for Slack desktop client.

Skills

React + TypeScript

Chromium

Performance profiling and debugging

Complex systems architecture

Communication skills

Job description

Slack is looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join our Desktop team within the Architecture & Systems organization. This role focuses on building the Desktop Framework— the architectural foundation that underpins the Slack desktop client across all platforms. The team is heavily involved with the Electron open source project, ensuring success and sustainability.

What you will be doing

• Strategic Leadership: Lead cross-functional initiatives across Electron and Slack to increase developer productivity, OS-level stability, performance, or security alongside desktop and frontend stakeholders.
• Technical Standards: Contribute to key architectural decisions to adapt our existing frontend and desktop infrastructure to support new product features.
• Navigating Ambiguity: Thrive in ambiguity, identifying and offering solutions to problems such as framework migrations or rendering bottlenecks that are not yet evident to leaders.
• System Health: Maintain and improve the core systems powering the Slack desktop client and Electron framework, including Slack and Electron-based infrastructure and tooling.
• Mentorship & Culture: Build a safe space for learning and serve as a skilled and trusted mentor to engineers across the organization, coaching new leaders as well as individual contributors.
• Cross-Functional Execution: Collaborate with teammates across engineering to identify, define, and solve strategically important initiatives, acting as a leader in communication to de-escalate conflicts and drive consensus.

What You Should Have

• 10+ years of experience writing client-side code (React + TypeScript) for modern web applications at scale.
• Deep Chromium experience or experience contributing to large-scale open-source projects.
• Development at Scale: Experience working in a large-scale, shared codebase with hundreds of contributors, establishing patterns that allow other teams to contribute effectively without friction, and writing maintainable, testable code.
• Strategic Architecture: Expertise in building complex systems and tooling, guiding technical design across teams.
• Business Alignment: Exceptional communication skills, tying technical infrastructure to company goals such as performance, reliability, and developer velocity; facilitating dialogue between junior and senior members to surface blockers.
• Technical Breadth: Experience with performance profiling and debugging tools for web-based desktop applications; familiarity with desktop development and explaining technical trade-offs.
• Self-Awareness: Commitment to proactively offering and receiving constructive feedback to improve yourself and team culture.
• Eagerness to learn and to teach.
• Empathy: Understanding that the perfect solution is informed by people building on the work rather than purely technical merits.

Bonus Points

• Experience contributing to the engineering reputation externally (e.g., blog posts, speaking, open-source contributions).
• Experience developing on Windows and maintaining build infrastructure for Windows desktop applications.
• Experience in fast-paced and dynamic product development environments.

Compensation: The typical base salary range for this position is $197,300 - $313,700 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range is $237,700 - $344,700 annually. Compensation may include bonus, equity, and benefits as applicable.

Accommodations: If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or recruiting process, please submit a request via the Accommodations Request Form.

Equal Opportunity & Non-Discrimination: Salesforce is an equal-opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants. All decisions are based on merit, competence, and qualifications without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or any other protected class. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, performance assessment, discipline, termination, and more.