Principal Software Engineer

Job description

Microsoft Teams is core to Microsoft's vision for intelligent communications and productivity in the modern workplace.

It's a hub for teamwork, giving teams instant access to everything they need right in Office 365.

Microsoft Teams is the canvas that keeps all your content, tools, people, and conversations together in one place.

It is one of the leading product at Microsoft and we’re on course to disrupt the team collaboration space.

In the Microsoft Teams Fundamentals team, you will also have the opportunity to work on generative artificial intelligence (AI), large language models (LLM), and world class AI stack that power the developer productivity with AI-driven infrastructure, at the forefront of AI innovation and research, leveraging the latest advances in deep learning, natural language processing, and conversational AI.

Join the Teams Engineering Systems team as a **Principal Software Engineer** and help build the backbone that enables thousands of Teams developers to ship features to millions of users worldwide, architecting and building AI-driven solutions that make our developers thrive.

You’ll have the opportunity to work in cross-organizational programs, remove barriers, and enable thousands of Teams developers to build and release Teams features to millions with confidence and cutting-edge AI capabilities.

You’ll drive architecture and operational excellence for large-scale systems, applying industry-leading practices and AI to push our platform forward.

You’ll mentor senior engineers, level up teams, and formalize standards that scale across the organization.

In this role, your leadership and architect skills will shape our product direction and priorities.

Our culture is inclusive and collaborative.

We thrive on diverse perspectives, teamwork, and a relentless focus on customer success.

The collaboration space is growing rapidly, offering exceptional opportunities to learn innovative technologies and accelerate your career.

Join us to shape the future of intelligent collaboration across industries and geographies.

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**

+ Design, develop and maintain components that power the Teams Fundamentals and Engineering Systems infrastructure for Microsoft Teams.
+ Collaborate and influence designs, architectures, and best practices to support large-scale distributed systems and infrastructure in our Engineering Systems, analyzing complex, high-volume, high-dimensional Build, Gate and Release systems for scalability.
+ Leverage AI to accelerate and optimize experimentation workflows, Engineering Systems pipelines, and developer experiences, improving speed, quality, and reliability.

Apply state-of-the-art techniques in deep learning, natural language processing, and conversational AI to build and improve the AI capabilities of our Engineering Systems infrastructure.
+ Collaborate with partners, internal and external to Microsoft Teams organization, in order to architect and design infrastructure that maximize our engineering productivity.

Collaborate closely with peers and other teams across a variety of technical backgrounds to find innovative solutions in a fast-paced environment.

Work closely with other AI teams across Microsoft to leverage and share best practices and resources.
+ Experiment, prototype, and evaluate new ideas and approaches for AI-powered features.

**Qualifications**

**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.
+ 5+ year experience in system design and architecture for large scale, distributed, highly available infrastructure.
+ Experience solving challenging problems and cross team/organization collaboration skills.
+ Knowledge/experience in applying AI and machine learning for acceleration and optimization of engineering workflows, release pipelines, guardrails, and data informed decision making.

**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.
+ Leadership and influence across organizational boundaries, with the ability to communicate technical details clearly to diverse audiences, analytical skills and data storytelling through concise, actionable visualizations, a bias for action and customer focus.
+ Ability to navigate ambiguity in a fast-paced environment.
+ Ability to shape product discovery by leveraging insights and metrics, developing hypotheses and success criteria, and ensuring features deliver sustainable, long-term value.

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $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 (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/us-corporate-pay.html)

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until November 16,2025.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer.

Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html) .

Required Skill Profession

Other General