Senior Software Engineer, Windows/Desktop Applications - Honolulu, HI, USA

Speechify•Honolulu, HI

8d•$140,000 - $200,000•Remote

About The Position

Speechify is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to lead the design, architecture, and development of native Windows desktop applications. The company's mission is to ensure reading is never a barrier to learning, with over 50 million users benefiting from their text-to-speech products. Speechify operates in a 100% distributed setting with no offices. This role involves defining and enforcing best practices for Windows desktop development, driving accessibility efforts, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and taking ownership of the full feature lifecycle. The engineer will identify and resolve complex bugs and performance issues, contributing to the long-term roadmap for the Windows platform.

Requirements

3+ years in Windows desktop application development using Windows App SDK, WinUI (or similar), C#, XAML — and ideally 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), and a dedication to building accessible and inclusive software.
Excellent software engineering fundamentals: OOP, design patterns, data structures, algorithms, memory management, multi-threading or asynchronous programming (where relevant).
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.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

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 other relevant Windows accessibility frameworks), 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 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. Ensure 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.