About us
Quiet is a free software, peer-to-peer alternative to Slack and Discord. We’re building it because we believe most Internet users will only escape Big Tech and “the cloud” once free software can connect the devices they control (their phones, their laptops) to provide full-featured online spaces for work and community life, with no server required.
We’re hiring a senior software engineer to help us prove that using free software for communication and collaboration doesn’t need to mean trusting someone else’s server or running one’s own.
It’s an exciting time for peer-to-peer communication tools;they aren’t pipe dreams anymore! Tools like IPFS, libp2p, CRDTs like Automerge, and overlay networks like Tor do a lot of the heavy lifting, making it easier for teams to focus on the mix of features, reliability, and security properties real users need.
We think Quiet is the farthest along among comparable projects, but there’s still a ton of work to be done. Quiet has working releases for desktop and Android, and iOS is very close. We use Quiet internally for our team chat, but we have tricky reliability improvements to make—as well as a ton of features to build—before most real teams or communities could use Quiet daily as a Slack substitute.
Your role will be to help us move surefooted, with urgency, through features and stack-level challenges.
About you
- 5+ years of experience delivering user-facing software in a high-stakes setting
- Experienced delivering software products for desktop and/or mobile
- Can mentor and guide other engineers
- Prepared to contribute immediately to our Electron, React, React Native, Node.js, TypeScript project. (We use React Native with a Node.js backend on mobile.)
- Familiar with test-driven development;ready to work with tools like Jest, React Testing Library, Chromatic, Cypress, and WebDriver
- Ready to assess new tools and research in the peer-to-peer, local-first space for applicability to challenges we face
- Experienced enough with how software projects play out over time to help us navigate risk and scope for the long term
- Ready to work in US or European time zones
Not required, but a plus
- Experience with peer-to-peer or local-first software
- Experience with security
- Experience building high-availability web apps at scale
- Expertise in one of the technologies we build on: Tor, IPFS, libp2p, or distributed databases, and readiness to become an expert in the others
- Contributions to one of these projects, or a similar project
What we offer
- 100% remote with regular in-person retreats and meetings
- An option of in-person work in the northeast U.S.
- Salary $60-$160k depending on experience
- Equity
- Unlimited PTO
Quiet is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or disability status. We believe that a diverse staff enables us to better understand and serve our users, and the world. We encourage people subject to systemic bias to apply, including people of color, indigenous people, LGBTQIA+ people, women, and any other person who is part of a group that is underrepresented in tech. We understand some may not feel comfortable applying if they don't check all the above boxes. We value motivated candidates who can learn as they go, so if you're in doubt, please apply!
Interested? Contact jobs@quiet.chat