Lead the design and development of Speechify's native Windows desktop applications, ensuring high performance, accessibility, and a polished user experience. Drive architecture decisions, mentor peers, and own features end-to-end.

About the Company

Speechify is a mission-driven company dedicated to making reading never a barrier to learning. Over 50 million people use Speechify's text-to-speech products to convert PDFs, books, Google Docs, news articles, websites, and more into audio, enabling faster reading, deeper comprehension, and better retention. Speechify has been recognized globally—Google named it the Chrome Extension of the Year, and Apple awarded it the 2025 Design Award for Inclusivity. With nearly 200 employees across the world working in a fully distributed environment (no physical office), Speechify is a remote-first organization that brings together talent from Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Stanford PhD programs, and startups like Stripe, Vercel, and Bolt.

Role Overview

As a Senior Software Engineer for Windows/Desktop Applications, you will be a foundational member of Speechify's desktop team. You will lead the design, architecture, and development of native Windows desktop applications using modern Microsoft frameworks. This role is central to Speechify's product strategy, as the Windows platform is a key growth area for reaching new users who need accessible reading tools. You will own the full lifecycle of features—from conception to release—and ensure that the desktop experience is polished, highly performant, and accessible to users with disabilities. This is a high-impact, leadership-level role where you will influence architecture, mentor junior engineers, and drive best practices across the codebase.

Key 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++ where necessary.
• Define and enforce best practices for Windows desktop development: 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 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 the long-term roadmap for the Windows platform.
• Take ownership of the full lifecycle of features: conception, design, implementation, testing, release, and 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.
• Mentor other engineers, conduct code reviews, and make architecture-level decisions that affect the entire Windows product.

Tech Stack

• Primary: Windows App SDK, WinUI (or similar UI frameworks), C#, XAML, .NET
• Native Interop: C++, Win32 API, WinRT, COM
• Accessibility: Microsoft UI Automation API
• Testing: Unit tests, integration tests, UI automation tests (e.g., WinAppDriver or similar)
• DevOps/CI/CD: Pipelines for desktop app build and release (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions)
• Additional: Telemetry/analytics/crash reporting tools (e.g., Sentry, AppCenter), localization/internationalization frameworks

Salary Note: The salary range provided is an estimate based on industry standards for a senior software engineer with 3+ years of Windows desktop experience in Gurgaon, India. Actual compensation may vary based on experience and qualifications.

Required:

• 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.

Preferred / Bonus:

• Experience 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.

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.