Senior Software Engineer, Windows/Desktop Applications

Role Description

The mission of Speechify is to make sure that reading is never a barrier to learning. Over 50 million people use Speechify’s text-to-speech products to turn whatever they’re reading – PDFs, books, Google Docs, news articles, websites – into audio, so they can read faster, read more, and remember more.

• Lead the design, architecture, and development of native Windows desktop applications using Windows App SDK, WinUI (or related UI frameworks), C#, XAML, and — when needed — C++.
• Define and enforce best-practices for Windows desktop development across the codebase:
  • Code architecture
  • Performance
  • Memory usage
  • Responsive UI
  • Cross-version compatibility (Windows 10/11+)
  • Maintainability
• Drive accessibility efforts: integrate and validate support for accessibility APIs (e.g. Microsoft UI Automation or other relevant Windows accessibility frameworks).
• Collaborate closely with product designers, UX researchers, QA, and other stakeholders to shape feature planning, UI/UX architecture, and long-term roadmap for the Windows platform.
• Take ownership of full lifecycle of features: conception → design → implementation → testing → release → maintenance.
• Identify, diagnose, and resolve complex bugs, performance bottlenecks, memory leaks, rendering issues, or compatibility problems.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in Windows desktop application development using Windows App SDK, WinUI (or similar), C#, XAML — ideally with additional experience with native Windows code (C++, Win32/WinRT/COM).
• Deep understanding of Windows application architecture, including interop between managed code (.NET) and native code.
• Proven track record of designing, building, and shipping production-quality desktop applications, with an emphasis on reliability, performance, scalability, and maintainability.
• Strong experience with accessibility APIs on Windows (e.g. Microsoft UI Automation or similar).
• Excellent software engineering fundamentals: OOP, design patterns, data structures, algorithms, memory management, multi-threading or asynchronous programming.
• Experience leading technical design, mentoring other engineers, conducting code reviews, and making architecture-level decisions.
• Strong communication skills; ability to articulate tradeoffs, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and drive consensus.
• A user-centric mindset: focus on building polished, intuitive, and accessible experiences for end users.

Requirements

• Experience with writing automated tests for UI — unit tests, integration tests, UI automation tests; familiarity with relevant testing frameworks.
• Experience with performance optimization for desktop apps (memory usage, startup time, rendering performance, high-DPI support, responsiveness under load).
• Experience with localization/globalization, right-to-left UI support, internationalization, accessibility for multiple regions.
• Familiarity with telemetry, analytics, crash reporting, logging, and error monitoring in desktop applications.
• Previous experience in shaping CI/CD workflows, release pipelines, and deployment strategies for desktop applications.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of feature areas or modules and drive them long-term, including maintenance, refactoring, and technical debt management.

Benefits

• A high-impact role: you will define architecture, shape the future of our Windows product, and directly influence what millions of users see and experience.
• A collaborative, flat-structure engineering culture — you are not just a coder, but a builder and a decision-maker.
• Opportunities to lead — mentor others, steer technical direction, and grow into broader technical leadership (e.g. Tech Lead, Architect).
• Flexibility, autonomy, and responsibility: you define how to solve problems, own features end-to-end, and contribute to long-term product vision.
• A purpose-driven mission: building software that’s reliable, accessible, and user-centered — making a real difference for people.