OPPORTUNITIES

[Lead Engineer] Desktop-First MVP: Local-First Case Management for Investigators

Role: Lead Developer / Independent Engineer (Solo Preferred)

Compensation: Revenue Share OR Revenue Share + Small Equity Hybrid

Location: Remote (US/Pacific Time; Founder in Washington)

The Mission

CaseLight Office is a local‑first investigative workstation for private investigators, attorneys, and small investigative units. It replaces the 6–10 tools investigators currently juggle — Word, OneNote, Dropbox, Hunchly, Snipping Tool, Google Drive, etc. — with one encrypted, offline‑capable desktop application.

The MVP includes:

  • Full case management

  • Notes + templates

  • Evidence intake with hashing

  • Automatic timeline

  • Entities (subjects, witnesses, businesses, vehicles)

  • Tasks

  • Beautiful PDF reporting

  • Built‑in investigative browser with one‑click capture + hashing

This is a desktop‑only build. No sync. No mobile. No distributed systems. No cloud backend.

A follow‑on product (CaseLight Pro) will introduce mobile + sync, but that is a separate project and a separate hire.

About the Founder

I’m a retired Federal Law Enforcement Agent who ran daily operations for a 43‑person intelligence unit. I’m also a licensed Private Investigator in Washington State. I know this workflow cold, I know the pain points, and I have a clear go‑to‑market plan.

The Technical Challenge (Not a CRUD Dashboard)

This MVP is not a simple UI assembly job. It requires a product‑minded engineer who can build:

  • A desktop app (Electron or Tauri)

  • A clean, modern React UI

  • A local encrypted SQLite database

  • A built‑in browser (Chromium/WebView2)

  • One‑click evidence capture

  • SHA‑256 hashing

  • A structured timeline engine

  • A PDF report builder (HTML → PDF)

  • A local encrypted file vault

This is application engineering, not distributed systems. If you’ve built workflow tools, offline‑capable apps, or local‑first products, you’ll feel right at home.

Who You Are

  • Independent engineer or very small team

  • Strong full‑stack or product‑engineering background

  • Comfortable building desktop apps (Electron/Tauri)

  • Comfortable with React + SQLite

  • Comfortable building clean, intuitive workflows

  • Able to move quickly and communicate clearly

  • Interested in revenue share or rev‑share + small equity

Not for: Agencies, no‑code/low‑code builders, or anyone looking to learn full‑stack development on the job.

What You’ll Build (MVP Scope)

  • Case management

  • Notes (rich text + templates)

  • Evidence intake (files, screenshots, PDFs)

  • SHA‑256 hashing + metadata

  • Built‑in investigative browser

  • One‑click capture (HTML, screenshot, PDF)

  • Automatic timeline creation

  • Entities (subjects, witnesses, businesses, vehicles etc)

  • Tasks minder

  • Global search

  • PDF report builder

  • Local encryption + vault

Everything is local‑first, encrypted, and offline‑capable.

Compensation

  • Revenue share

  • OR revenue share + small equity hybrid

  • Flexible structure for the right engineer

How to Apply

If this sounds like the kind of product you enjoy building, email: CharlesE@OverWatchInvestigations.net

CharlesE@overwatchinvestigations.net

Please include:

  1. A link to a repo, project, or résumé showing your experience with desktop apps, local‑first tools, or workflow systems.

  2. A brief note on your availability.

  3. Your preferred technical stack for building a desktop app with local persistence.