Principal Software Engineer

Overview

The OIC team within Microsoft’s Substrate organization is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help shape the next generation of intelligent cloud service operations.

Our team builds large-scale distributed platforms that help engineers understand the health of complex cloud services, detect and diagnose failures, and recover safely and efficiently. We are evolving service operations through advances in AI, automation, telemetry, distributed systems, and intelligent diagnosis, with the goal of improving service reliability and protecting customer experiences.

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will provide technical leadership across complex engineering problems that span multiple services and teams. You will help define architecture and technical strategy, turn ambiguous problems into scalable solutions, and influence the evolution of platforms used to operate some of Microsoft’s large-scale cloud services.

This is an opportunity to work at the intersection of distributed systems, cloud platforms, AI-assisted engineering, and large-scale service operations, while influencing technical direction across teams and organizations.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership for the architecture and evolution of large-scale distributed cloud platforms and services.
• Identify and solve complex, ambiguous engineering problems and translate them into clear technical strategies and scalable architectures.
• Lead the design of systems that use AI and automation to improve how cloud services are monitored, investigated, diagnosed, and operated.
• Define reusable platform capabilities, APIs, architectural patterns, and engineering standards that enable multiple teams to build and innovate efficiently.
• Drive architectural decisions across multiple services and engineering teams, balancing scalability, reliability, security, performance, extensibility, and engineering velocity.
• Partner across engineering, product management, and architecture disciplines to translate customer and business needs into long-term technical investments.
• Lead complex initiatives from early problem definition and architecture through implementation, rollout, and operational maturity.
• Establish strong engineering practices around quality, testing, observability, security, privacy, and operational excellence.
• Use production learnings and data to identify systemic improvements and influence future platform investments.
• Mentor engineers and technical leaders and raise the engineering bar through design reviews, technical guidance, and hands-on leadership.
• Build strong partnerships across organizational boundaries and drive alignment when solutions require multiple teams or technologies.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python

OR equivalent experience.

Other Requirements

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications

Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python

OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python

OR equivalent experience.

Experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems, cloud services, or platform technologies.

Experience with AI-assisted systems, AI agents, machine learning, or intelligent automation.

Experience with observability technologies, including metrics, logs, traces, telemetry pipelines, or service-health systems.

Experience with workflow, orchestration, or automation platforms.

Experience building extensible platforms, frameworks, or developer experiences used by multiple engineering teams.

Demonstrated ability to define a technical vision and translate it into an executable, long-term engineering strategy.

Experience mentoring senior engineers and developing technical leadership across an organization.

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances.

If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

Insights from previous hires

Top skills: Architecture, Automation, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Analytics, Agilent, Project Management, PHP, MySQL, Management, Machine Learning

Common previous titles: Senior Scientist, Tech, Consultant, Cloud Solution Architect, Tech Support Engineer, Senior Solution Engineer, Engineer Senior, Senior Consultant, Software Engineer, Software Engineer II