Discord is used by over 200 million people every month for many different reasons, but there’s one thing that nearly everyone does on our platform: play video games. Over 90% of our users play games, spending a combined 1.5 billion hours playing thousands of unique titles on Discord each month. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games.
We're looking for a Staff Engineer to join our Desktop Platform team to help lead the technical vision for Discord's client experience across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
You will report to our Engineering Manager, Desktop Platform, and play a critical role in shaping the technical foundation that powers Discord's user experience for millions of people worldwide. Our goal is to build products that our customers absolutely love - products that are functional, reliable, usable, and delightful, with performance as a core feature and an iterative approach to solving complex problems.
What you'll do:
- Build and maintain foundational components for Discord’s desktop clients, focusing on Discord’s In-Game Overlay.
- Interface directly with Windows operating system APIs to leverage platform-specific capabilities.
- Help drive engineering quality for desktop client performance, developing systems and processes to ensure quality can be optimized and sustainably maintained.
- Troubleshoot complex issues using advanced debugging tools and techniques.
- Support internal developers with desktop build environment and tooling.
What you have:
- 8+ years experience as a software engineer working on large, cross-platform desktop applications.
- You have experience with desktop performance and are excited by the challenge of delivering an incredible product to 200 million users.
- Expertise in Windows applications that interact with Windows Desktop Window Manager (DWM) and/or low-level graphics rendering.
- Strong technical depth with C++ and/or Rust.
- Exceptional problem-solving abilities, with a track record of diagnosing and resolving complex performance issues.
- You understand observability and monitoring and leverages this to solve system issues.
Bonus Points:
- Active in the Electron community, with contributions to open source or technical talks at conferences.
- Experience with Objective-C++, JavaScript/TypeScript and/or Python.
- You excel in undefined environments and get excited about finding solutions to complex technical challenges
- Comfortable reading and writing code in large existing codebases
Things that may interest you:
- Our tech stack is Electron, C++, Objective-C++, Rust and Typescript.
- Blog posts from some of our recent work:
- How Discord Seamlessly Upgraded Millions of Users to 64-Bit Architecture
- How to Use Discord’s In-Game Overlay to Talk While Playing on PC
Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties). Relocation assistance may be available.
The US base salary range for this full-time position is $248,000 to $279,000 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.
Why Discord?
Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We're a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank. Join us in our mission! Your future is just a click away!
Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. We want you to feel set up for success, so if you are in need of reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.
Please see our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy for details regarding Discord’s collection and usage of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process by clicking HERE.
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What We Do
Discord is a voice, video and text app that helps friends and communities come together to hang out and explore their interests — from artists and activists, to study groups, sneakerheads, plant parents, and more. With 150 million monthly users across 19 million active communities, called servers, Discord has grown to become one of the most popular communications services in the world. Discord was built without selling ads or user data and instead, offers a premium subscription called Nitro that gives users special perks like higher quality streams and fun customizations.
Why Work With Us
Imagine a workplace that not only tolerates but celebrates the unique perspectives each and every person brings to it. One that is representative of the world we want to live, play and work in. Well, imagine no more. Just as Discord gives everyone the power to belong, we are building a workplace that is welcoming and inclusive from the inside out.
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