Lead Software Engineer - CoCounsel Legal Desktop AppDo you want to be the founding engineer who sets the technical bar for CoCounsel Legal on desktop? Are you energized by the challenge of making an AI-powered product feel truly native on Windows and Mac - fast, integrated, and indispensable to the lawyers who use it every day? If so, this role is for you.
As Lead Software Engineer for the CoCounsel Legal Desktop App, you will be the technical anchor of a new desktop engineering team - defining the architecture, setting engineering standards, and personally shipping code that brings CoCounsel Legal to lawyers' machines. You will work closely with the Engineering Manager and Product to shape the product from its earliest decisions, and mentor the engineers who join you.
About the RoleIn this opportunity as CoCounsel Legal Desktop App, you will:
- Establish the technical foundation of the CoCounsel Legal desktop app, making early architecture decisions on framework choice (e.g., Electron, Tauri, native), project structure, IPC patterns, packaging, and auto-update infrastructure that will shape how the team builds for years.
- Deliver hands-on engineering contributions, writing production-quality desktop code across core features - from the main agent experience and local file integrations to OS-level notifications, clipboard handling, and system tray presence.
- Integrate with the CoCounsel backend, working closely with Agent Core and AI Platform teams to connect the desktop app to agent APIs, streaming responses, file and workspace infrastructure, and authentication flows.
- Define and uphold desktop engineering standards, establishing code review practices, testing strategies (unit, integration, end-to-end), cross-platform compatibility requirements, and performance benchmarks.
- Mentor and support desktop engineers, providing technical guidance, pairing on hard problems, and helping engineers develop expertise in a greenfield environment.
- Partner with Product and Design, translating requirements and designs into technically sound, performant desktop experiences - and raising constructive concerns about feasibility or quality tradeoffs early.
- Contribute to the broader Application Experience engineering community, sharing desktop-specific patterns and insights with peer teams building the web and mobile experiences.
About YouYou're a fit for the role of CoCounsel Legal Desktop App if your background includes:
- 7+ years of software engineering experience, with significant depth in desktop application development for Windows and/or macOS.
- Proven experience leading technical direction on a desktop product - framework choices, architecture patterns, packaging, and engineering standards - not just execution.
- Track record shipping high-quality, production desktop applications in a professional or enterprise context.
- Hands-on experience with one or more desktop frameworks: Electron, Tauri, native Win32/macOS APIs, or equivalent.
- Experience integrating desktop applications with cloud APIs including streaming, authentication (OAuth/SSO), and local file system access.
- Ability to mentor and elevate engineers through code review, design discussions, and technical pairing.
- Clear technical communicator - able to articulate tradeoffs to both engineers and non-technical product partners.
Additional preferred qualifications include:
- Experience building greenfield desktop applications - ideally as the first or founding engineer.
- Background in legal tech, productivity software, or professional-services SaaS.
- Experience building AI-powered desktop features - streaming chat interfaces, local inference, context-aware actions.
- Familiarity with enterprise desktop deployment patterns (MSI/PKG packaging, MDM, SSO, app configuration).
#LI-SM2
What's in it For You?- Hybrid Work Model: We've adopted a flexible hybrid working environment (2-3 days a week in the office depending on the role) for our office-based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected.
- Flexibility & Work-Life Balance: Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset. This builds upon our flexible work arrangements, including work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year, empowering employees to achieve a better work-life balance.
- Career Development and Growth: By fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development, we prepare our talent to tackle tomorrow's challenges and deliver real-world solutions. Our Grow My Way programming and skills-first approach ensures you have the tools and knowledge to grow, lead, and thrive in an AI-enabled future.
- Industry Competitive Benefits: We offer comprehensive benefit plans to include flexible vacation, two company-wide Mental Health Days off, access to the Headspace app, retirement savings, tuition reimbursement, employee incentive programs, and resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
- Culture: Globally recognized, award-winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work-life balance, and more. We live by our values: Obsess over our Customers, Compete to Win, Challenge (Y)our Thinking, Act Fast / Learn Fast, and Stronger Together.
- Social Impact: Make an impact in your community with our Social Impact Institute. We offer employees two paid volunteer days off annually and opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
- Making a Real-World Impact: We are one of the few companies globally that helps its customers pursue justice, truth, and transparency. Together, with the professionals and institutions we serve, we help uphold the rule of law, turn the wheels of commerce, catch bad actors, report the facts, and provide trusted, unbiased information to people all over the world.
In the United States, Thomson Reuters offers a comprehensive benefits package to our employees. Our benefit package includes market competitive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance programs, as well as a competitive 401k plan with company match. In addition, Thomson Reuters offers market leading work life benefits with competitive vacation, sick and safe paid time off, paid holidays (including two company mental health days off), parental leave, sabbatical leave. These benefits meet or exceeds the requirements of paid time off in accordance with any applicable state or municipal laws. Finally, Thomson Reuters offers the following additional benefits: optional hospital, accident and sickness insurance paid 100% by the employee; optional life and AD&D insurance paid 100% by the employee; Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts; fitness reimbursement; access to Employee Assistance Program; Group Legal Identity Theft Protection benefit paid 100% by employee; access to 529 Plan; commuter benefits; Adoption & Surrogacy Assistance; Tuition Reimbursement; and access to Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
Thomson Reuters complies with local laws that require upfront disclosure of the expected pay range for a position. The base compensation range varies across locations.Eligible office location(s) for this role include one or more of the following: New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and/or Irvine, CA; McLean, VA; Washington, DC. The base compensation range for the role in any of those locations is $136,000 USD - $253,000 USD.For any eligible US locations, unless otherwise noted, the base compensation range for this role is $118,400 USD - $219,800 USD.Base pay is positioned within the range based on several factors including an individual's knowledge, skills and experience with consideration given to internal equity. Base pay is one part of a comprehensive Total Reward program which also includes flexible and supportive benefits and other wellbeing programs.This role may also be eligible for an Annual Bonus based on a combination of enterprise and individual performance.
About UsThomson Reuters informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. We serve professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Our products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news.
We are powered by the talents of 26,000 employees across more than 70 countries, where everyone has a chance to contribute and grow professionally in flexible work environments. At a time when objectivity, accuracy, fairness, and transparency are under attack, we consider it our duty to pursue them. Sound exciting? Join us and help shape the industries that move society forward.
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