Principal Software Engineer

Technology, Data & Digital · Software & Web Development · Software Engineering

In short

Microsoft is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the evolution of the Windows UI Platform, focusing on WinUI3. This role involves modernizing the platform, enhancing fundamentals like performance and reliability, and pioneering an AI-native UI framework. The engineer will provide technical leadership, drive architectural direction, and mentor teams, influencing the future of Windows experiences for millions of developers and customers.

Responsibilities

Define and evolve the architectural direction for WinUI and related Windows UI components.
Review and guide architecture and design proposals across multiple teams.
Drive improvements in core platform fundamentals such as startup performance, memory usage, and responsiveness.
Influence API design patterns, lifecycle models, diagnostics, and tooling for easier platform development.
Mentor senior ICs and aspiring architects, raising the overall bar for technical decision-making and design quality.
Demonstrate a frontier-firm mindset, staying ahead of emerging UI platform trends, including AI-native UX patterns.
Use modern AI tools responsibly to increase personal and team efficiency.
Create reusable accelerators (prompts, templates, automation, reference implementations) to help teams move faster.
Model a culture of learning and iteration.

Requirements

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.
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements.
Must pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Desired Qualifications

Master'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#.
OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 15+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#.
OR equivalent experience.
Significant hands‑on experience building desktop or rich-client applications, with a solid focus on UX quality and system fundamentals.
Depth in one or more UI frameworks for desktop or cross‑platform development, such as WinForms, WPF, WinUI, SwiftUI, UIKit/AppKit, .NET MAUI, Avalonia UI, Qt, Uno Platform, Flutter, or Electron.
Proficiency in C++ and/or C# (or comparable systems languages), with the ability to reason across framework, runtime, and OS layers.
Experience navigating UI architecture tradeoffs involving performance, memory, rendering, input, threading, accessibility, and app lifecycle.
Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction beyond your immediate team through design reviews, architectural guidance, or technical leadership.
Experience modernizing or evolving an existing UI framework or large application platform.
Experience designing developer‑facing APIs or frameworks consumed by external teams or customers.
Engagement with developer communities or open‑source projects.
Familiarity with Windows app models, interop scenarios, or graphics/composition pipelines.

Benefits

Opportunity to shape the UI platform powering Windows experiences used by millions of developers and customers.
Influence a widely used platform while staying close to real developer scenarios.
Work on modernizing the platform, improving fundamentals, and ensuring the developer experience meets expectations.
Embrace a future where agents author a significant portion of application code.
Reimagine WinUI as a declarative, composable, and semantically rich platform.
Opportunity to work on seamless migration and adoption through AI-assisted tooling and compatibility layers.
Partner with PM and engineering teams to improve guidance and reduce friction for teams adopting newer UI technologies.
Engage constructively with the developer community.

Skills

CC++C#JavaJavaScriptPythonWinUISwiftUI.NET MAUIAvalonia UIQtUno PlatformFlutterElectronWPFWinForms

#Software Engineering#UI Platform#WinUI3#AI#Developer Experience#Windows

About Microsoft

Empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more

Every company has a mission. What's ours? To empower every person and every organization to achieve more. We believe technology can and should be a force for good and that meaningful innovation contributes to a brighter world in the future and today. Our culture doesn’t just encourage curiosity; it embraces it. Each day we make progress together by showing up as our authentic selves. We show up with a learn-it-all mentality. We show up cheering on others, knowing their success doesn't diminish our own. We show up every day open to learning our own biases, changing our behavior, and inviting…

See all open jobs at Microsoft Read more about Microsoft Website