Speechify
Senior Software Engineer, Windows/Desktop Applications - Belfast, United Kingdom
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About Speechify
The mission of Speechify is to ensure that reading is never a barrier to learning.
Over 50 million people use Speechify’s text-to-speech products to convert whatever text they read—PDFs, books, Google Docs, news articles, websites—into audio. This allows them to read faster, read more, and remember more. Speechify’s text-to-speech reading products include its:
- iOS app
- Android app
- Mac app
- Chrome extension
- Web app
Google named Speechify the Chrome Extension of the Year, and Apple recognised it as the 2025 Design Award winner for Inclusivity.
Today, nearly 200 people work at Speechify in a 100% distributed setting—there’s no office. The team includes:
- Frontend and backend engineers
- AI research scientists
- Former employees from companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google
- Ex-Stanford PhDs and leaders from high-growth startups such as Stripe, Vercel, Bolt
- Founders of their own companies
Role Overview
You’ll be responsible for leading the design, architecture, and development of our native Windows desktop applications, including:
- Windows App SDK, WinUI (or related UI frameworks)
- C#, XAML, and when required, C++
Key Responsibilities
Development & Architecture
- Define and enforce best practices in:
- Code architecture
- Performance
- Memory usage
- Responsive UI
- Cross-version compatibility (Windows 10/11+)
- Maintainability
Accessibility & Inclusion
- Drive accessibility efforts by:
- Integrating and validating support for accessibility APIs (e.g., Microsoft UI Automation)
- Ensuring UI controls, focus management, keyboard navigation, and screen-reader compatibility
- Prioritising usability for users with disabilities
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Collaboration
- Closely collaborate with:
- Product designers
- UX researchers
- QA teams
- Other stakeholders in shaping:
- Feature planning
- UI/UX architecture
- Long-term Windows platform roadmap
Feature Ownership
- Take end-to-end ownership of features:
- Conception → Design → Implementation → Testing → Release → Maintenance
- Ensure quality, reliability, and consistency across releases
Problem Solving & Debugging
- Identify, diagnose, and resolve complex bugs, including:
- Performance bottlenecks
- Memory leaks
- Rendering issues
- Compatibility problems
- Propose robust architectural and design solutions
Required Qualifications
- 3+ years of experience in:
- Windows desktop application development using Windows App SDK, WinUI (or similar frameworks), C#, XAML
- Ideally, experience with native Windows code (C++, Win32/WinRT/COM)
- Deep understanding of:
- Windows application architecture, particularly interop between managed (.NET) and native code
- Proven experience in designing, building, and shipping production-quality desktop applications, with focus on:
- Reliability
- Performance
- Scalability
- Maintainability
- Strong accessibility expertise on Windows (e.g., Microsoft UI Automation), with a commitment to building inclusive software
- Strong command of:
- OOP
- Design patterns
- Data structures & algorithms
- Memory management
- Multi-threading or asynchronous programming
- Experience in:
- Leading technical design
- Mentoring engineers
- Conducting code reviews
- Making architecture-level decisions
Soft Skills
- Excellent communication skills to:
- Articulate tradeoffs
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams
- Drive consensus
- A user-centric mindset focused on delivering polished, intuitive, and accessible experiences
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Preferred Qualifications (Bonus Points!)
- Experience with:
- Automated testing (unit tests, integration tests, UI automation tests)
- Relevant testing frameworks
- Knowledge of:
- Performance optimisation (memory usage, startup time, rendering, high-DPI support, responsiveness)
- Experience with:
- Localisation/globalisation
- Right-to-left UI support
- Internationalisation
- Accessibility across multiple regions
- Familiarity with:
- Telemetry
- Analytics
- Crash reporting
- Logging & error monitoring
- Experience shaping:
- CI/CD workflows
- Release pipelines
- Deployment strategies for desktop applications
Leadership & Growth Opportunities
Why Join Us?
- Impactful work: Shape the future of our Windows product, directly influencing millions of users.
- Collaborative, flat structure: Beyond coding; you’ll lead, mentor, and make architectural decisions.
- Leadership opportunities: Develop into roles like Tech Lead or Architect.
- Autonomy & flexibility: Define solutions, own features end-to-end, and contribute to the long-term product vision.
- Purpose-driven mission: Build reliable, accessible software that makes a real difference for users.
Tell us why you’re a great fit!
Share details about your qualifications and links to portfolio/LinkedIn when applying.
Can’t apply but know someone perfect? Refer them!
Speechify is committed to diversity & inclusion. We do not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, or protected status.
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