Senior Software Engineer, Windows/Desktop Applications - Kirkland, WA, USA

Speechify•Kirkland, WA

18h•Remote

About The Position

Speechify is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to lead the design, architecture, and development of native Windows desktop applications. The role involves defining and enforcing best practices for Windows desktop development, driving accessibility efforts, and collaborating with cross-functional teams. The engineer will take ownership of the full lifecycle of features, from conception to maintenance, and will be responsible for identifying and resolving complex bugs and performance issues. This is a high-impact role in a 100% distributed setting, contributing to software that aims to make reading accessible to millions.

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 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.