Senior Software Engineer, Windows​/Desktop - Burlington, VT

Senior Software Engineer, Windows/Desktop Applications - Burlington, VT, USA

Burlington, VT, USA

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. Speechify’s text-to-speech reading products include its iOS app, Android App, Mac App, Chrome Extension, and Web App. Google recently named Speechify the Chrome Extension of the Year and Apple named Speechify its 2025 Design Award winner for Inclusivity.

• 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+), and maintainability.
• Drive accessibility efforts: integrate and validate support for accessibility APIs (e.g., Microsoft UI Automation or similar), ensure UI controls, focus management, keyboard navigation, screen‑reader support, and usability for users with disabilities.
• Collaborate closely with product designers, UX researchers, QA, and other stakeholders.
• Identify, diagnose, and resolve complex bugs, performance bottlenecks, memory leaks, rendering issues, or compatibility problems — and propose robust architectural or design solutions.

Required:

• 3+ years of Windows desktop application development using Windows App SDK, WinUI (or similar), C#, XAML — and ideally additional experience with native Windows code (C++, Win
  32/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.

Preferred / Bonus:

• Experience with writing automated tests for UI — unit tests, integration tests, UI automation tests.
• Experience with performance optimization for desktop apps.
• Experience with localization/globalization, right‑to‑left UI support, internationalization, accessibility for multiple regions.
• Familiarity with telemetry, analytics, crash reporting, logging, and error monitoring.
• Previous experience shaping CI/CD workflows, release pipelines, and deployment strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of feature areas or modules and drive them long‑term.

• A high‑impact role: define architecture, shape the future of our Windows product, and directly influence millions of users.
• A collaborative, flat‑structure engineering culture.
• Opportunities to lead — mentor others, steer technical direction, and grow into broader technical leadership.
• Flexibility, autonomy, and responsibility.
• A purpose‑driven mission: building software that’s reliable, accessible, and user‑centered.

United States Based Salary range for this role is: 140,000‑200,000 USD/Year + Bonus + Stock depending on experience