Sr. AI Desktop Engineer_Tempe, AZ

Position overview 

Client is investing in enterprise AI capabilities to accelerate delivery, enable self-service technology, and help teams solve meaningful business problems faster. Tulip is a strategic AI platform that provides reusable patterns, tools, and services to make AI-enabled solution delivery easier, safer, and more scalable across the organization. Increasingly, Tulip reaches the business through desktop applications used every day by corporate, support center, and operations teams across Mac and Windows. 

The Senior AI Desktop Engineer - Tulip Platform is a hands-on role responsible for designing, building, and shipping cross-platform desktop applications - built with Electron and running on both macOS and Windows - that put Tulip's AI capabilities directly into people's daily tools. The focus is user experience and workflow automation: replacing manual, fragmented, and browser-tab-sprawl processes with fast, native-feeling desktop workflows, deeply integrated with enterprise systems and secured through enterprise SSO and identity. The role also contributes to platform architecture, integration patterns, and engineering standards, and mentors peers through design discussion and code review. 

The ideal candidate is a pragmatic builder and strong technical partner who obsesses over the end-user experience, holds desktop software to a native-quality bar on both macOS and Windows, navigates ambiguity, and consistently delivers high-quality, AI-enabled desktop solutions aligned to business priorities. 

Job Qualifications 

8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including significant hands-on experience building and shipping production cross-platform desktop applications with Electron (or comparable frameworks) on both macOS and Windows. 

Demonstrated focus on user experience: partnering with design, prototyping and testing with real users, and shipping interfaces that are fast, accessible, and intuitive for non-technical corporate and operations staff. 

Experience automating manual and fragmented workflows into desktop-first digital processes, including local caching and sync, background and long-running tasks, native OS notifications, deep links and protocol handlers, file system and clipboard integration, and multi-window experiences. 

Experience integrating AI-enabled services into end-user applications, including large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, agent or workflow orchestration, conversational and voice interfaces, and responsible AI guardrails at the point of use. 

Strong API and integration skills: consuming and shaping REST, GraphQL, and event-driven services, and working with backend and platform engineers to make desktop clients performant and resilient. 

Experience with desktop release and quality practices: code signing and macOS notarization, auto-update channels, enterprise distribution through Intune, Jamf, or comparable MDM, CI/CD for multi-platform builds, crash and performance monitoring, automated UI testing, and phased rollouts. 

Working proficiency in Python or a comparable backend language, with enough platform and cloud fluency (Azure, AWS, or GCP; containers; CI/CD; observability) to extend Tulip services where the desktop experience requires it. 

Experience securing desktop and enterprise integrations, including OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect, enterprise SSO on managed Mac and Windows endpoints, local data protection using the OS keychain and credential vault, and secrets management. 

Strong communication skills, with the ability to work directly with corporate and operations teams to observe how work actually gets done and translate that into technical designs and executable engineering work. 

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field preferred, or equivalent practical experience. 

Preferred Qualifications 

Experience building desktop or internal productivity applications for corporate, support center, finance, or operations teams in complex enterprise environments. 

Experience with design systems, accessibility standards, usability testing, and instrumenting product analytics to measure adoption and task completion. 

Familiarity with Azure AI, Azure OpenAI, Microsoft Fabric, vector search, prompt orchestration, or agentic AI frameworks, and with enterprise AI governance and responsible AI controls. 

Experience integrating desktop applications with enterprise systems such as Microsoft 365, ERP, ticketing, HRIS, data platforms, or identity providers. 

Experience working in retail, restaurant, ecommerce, loyalty, finance, supply chain, or high-volume enterprise environments. 

Experience partnering with product managers, designers, business analysts, forward deployed engineers, and enterprise architects to move ideas from user discovery to delivery. 

Skills 

Cross-platform desktop application engineering with Electron on macOS and Windows 

User experience design partnership, prototyping, usability testing, and accessibility 

Workflow automation and digitization of manual, fragmented, and browser-bound processes 

Native-feeling desktop UX, OS integration, notifications, and performance and memory tuning 

API, integration, and eventing patterns across enterprise and AI services 

LLM, RAG, agentic workflows, and AI evaluation applied to end-user experiences 

Python, SQL, cloud-native engineering, and secure service design 

Desktop CI/CD, code signing and notarization, auto-update and release management, crash and performance monitoring, and automated testing 

User discovery, stakeholder communication, and translating operational needs into product 

Peer mentorship, engineering standards, design reviews, and code quality 

Key Result Areas (KRAs) 

These KRAs describe the primary outcomes expected from this role and how success will be evaluated. 

Desktop Experience and Product Delivery 

Design, build, and ship desktop applications on Tulip that corporate, support center, and operations teams find fast, intuitive, and worth using every day. 

Example Measures: Adoption and active usage, task completion time, user satisfaction, crash-free sessions 

Workflow Automation on the Desktop 

Replace manual, fragmented, and browser-tab-sprawl steps with automated desktop workflows, using AI capabilities such as orchestration, RAG, agents, and conversational interfaces where they add real value. 

Example Measures: Processes automated, hours returned to teams, error and rework reduction 

Integration and Platform Contribution 

Integrate desktop applications with Tulip services and enterprise systems, and extend platform capabilities where the experience requires it. 

Example Measures: Integration reliability, reusable client patterns, delivery predictability 

Engineering Excellence 

Apply and improve practices for secure, maintainable, testable, and observable desktop and service engineering, including release management and phased rollouts. 

Example Measures: Code quality, test coverage, release stability, defect reduction 

Engineering Practices and Knowledge Sharing 

Contribute to documentation, design reviews, and shared UI and integration patterns that strengthen how the team builds desktop AI solutions. 

Example Measures: Improved team clarity, stronger handoffs, repeatable delivery practices 

Business Alignment and Value Realization 

Spend time with corporate and operations teams, translate what you observe into product decisions, and tie delivered experiences to measurable business value. 

Example Measures: User feedback loops, stakeholder alignment, business impact tracking 

Ways of Working 

This role is a hands-on individual contributor with no people management responsibility. The Senior AI Desktop Engineer ships user-facing applications, contributes to technical decisions, supports roadmap execution through their own delivery, mentors less experienced engineers, and models practices that improve quality, velocity, and consistency. Success requires deep technical execution paired with genuine curiosity about how corporate and operations teams work, and clear communication across product, design, architecture, engineering, and business partners. 

Location Requirement 

Location expectations should be confirmed through the People and Talent process. Draft assumption: Tempe, Arizona / hybrid, aligned to client's current Technology in-office guidance. 

Physical Requirements / Work Environment 

This position operates in a professional office or remote work environment and routinely uses standard office equipment. It also includes periodic time with teams across clients support center and office locations to observe workflows, test desktop applications in live conditions, and gather user feedback, which may involve occasional travel. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Compensation, Benefits and Duration

Minimum Compensation: USD 56,000
Maximum Compensation: USD 196,000
Compensation is based on actual experience and qualifications of the candidate. The above is a reasonable and a good faith estimate for the role.
Medical, vision, and dental benefits, 401k retirement plan, variable pay/incentives, paid time off, and paid holidays are available for full time employees.
This position is available for independent contractors
No applications will be considered if received more than 120 days after the date of this post.