Senior Software Engineer, Windows​/Desktop - Cologne

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 across PDFs, books, Google Docs, news articles, and websites, converting them into audio for faster, richer learning experiences.

Speechify’s products cover iOS, Android, Mac, Chrome Extension, and Web App. The company recently received the Chrome Extension of the Year award and a 2025 Design Award for Inclusivity from Apple.

Speechify operates as a 100 % distributed team of nearly 200 people worldwide, including front‑end and back‑end engineers, AI research scientists, and others from top tech companies and startups.

• 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, covering 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), ensuring 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 to shape feature planning, UI/UX architecture, and the long‑term roadmap for the Windows platform.
• Take ownership of the full lifecycle of features: conception → design → implementation → testing → release → maintenance, ensuring quality, reliability, and consistency across releases.
• Identify, diagnose, and resolve complex bugs, performance bottlenecks, memory leaks, rendering issues, or compatibility problems, and propose robust architectural or design solutions.

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

• Experience with automated UI testing (unit, integration, UI automation), familiarity with relevant testing frameworks.
• Experience optimizing desktop app performance (memory usage, startup time, rendering performance, high‑DPI support, responsiveness).
• Experience with localization/globalization, right‑to‑left UI support, internationalization, and accessibility across regions.
• Familiarity with telemetry, analytics, crash reporting, logging, and error monitoring in desktop apps.
• Experience 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.

• A high‑impact role shaping the future of our Windows product and influencing millions of users.
• A collaborative, flat‑structure engineering culture that values decision‑making and mentorship.
• Opportunities for personal growth: mentoring, technical leadership roles, potential progression to Tech Lead or Architect.
• Flexibility, autonomy, and responsibility: you define solutions, own features end‑to‑end, and contribute to long‑term vision.
• A purpose‑driven mission building reliable, accessible, user‑centered software that makes a real difference.

The Germany Based Salary range for this role is: 30,000‑120,000 USD Year + Bonus + Stock, depending on experience.

Speechify is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Speechify does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.