The Job

Principal Software Engineer

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

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In short

Microsoft is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead the technical direction for AI-driven content platforms. This role involves shaping multi-year technical strategy, architecting large-scale distributed backend systems and cloud-native infrastructure, and integrating LLM-powered capabilities into production systems. The ideal candidate will have exceptional technical judgment and a track record of influencing across organizations.

Responsibilities

  • Define and drive long-term technical strategy for large-scale distributed systems and platforms.
  • Establish architectural principles, patterns, and standards for consistency and scalability.
  • Lead the design of system-of-systems architectures, integrating services, data, and AI capabilities.
  • Architect and evolve backend services, APIs, data infrastructure, and platform capabilities at global scale.
  • Ensure systems meet stringent requirements for availability, latency, throughput, security, privacy, and cost efficiency.
  • Define how LLMs and intelligent systems are integrated into core platform architecture.
  • Establish patterns for retrieval, grounding, orchestration, memory, and tool use in production systems.
  • Lead the design of evaluation frameworks for quality, safety, latency, reliability, and business impact.
  • Ensure responsible AI practices are embedded into system design.
  • Influence technical direction across teams, organizations, and partner groups.
  • Drive alignment between engineering, product, and applied science on platform strategy and execution.
  • Lead complex, multi-team initiatives from concept through delivery.
  • Raise the engineering bar across the organization through design reviews, technical mentorship, and standards setting.
  • Mentor senior engineers and emerging leaders.
  • Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

  • Bachelor'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 equivalent experience.

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#, Java, JavaScript, or Python 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#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.
  • Prior experience with Search, Recommendation, Retrieval or ML Systems highly preferred.
  • Proven track record of architecting and delivering large-scale distributed systems or platforms used by millions of users.
  • Deep expertise in backend systems, cloud-native architecture, and service-oriented or microservices-based design.
  • Experience owning and evolving production systems with high availability, low latency, and solid operational rigor.
  • Solid fundamentals in system design, distributed systems, data modeling, and performance optimization.
  • Demonstrated ability to drive technical strategy and influence across multiple teams or organizations.
  • Experience leading complex, ambiguous, and high-impact technical initiatives end-to-end.
  • Experience designing and scaling LLM-powered applications, AI agents, or intelligent platforms in production.
  • Deep expertise in prompt orchestration, retrieval systems, agent workflows, and tool integration.
  • Experience building evaluation and experimentation frameworks for AI systems (quality, safety, latency, business impact).
  • Proven ability to integrate AI capabilities into large-scale platforms in a reliable, secure, and cost-efficient manner.
  • Experience with responsible AI practices, governance, and safety systems.
  • Track record of defining industry-leading technical approaches or influencing platform-level direction.

Benefits

  • Eligible for benefits and other compensation.
  • Access to additional benefits and pay information available via provided link.
  • Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer.
  • Consideration for employment without regard to protected characteristics.
#AI#LLM#distributed systems#cloud#backend#platform
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Company

Microsoft

Job Posted

4 weeks ago

Employment Type

Full Time

WorkMode

Hybrid

Experience Level

Executive

Locations

United States

Qualification

Bachelor, Master

Applicants

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