Principal Software Engineering Manager

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

In short

The Principal Software Engineering Manager will lead the Windows + Devices Fundamentals team, focusing on improving device reliability, performance, and efficiency through data and service capabilities. This role requires defining strategy, guiding architecture for scalable systems, and building a high-performing, inclusive engineering organization.

Responsibilities

Define organizational strategy, portfolio, and roadmap for backend services, telemetry systems, data pipelines, metrics, and diagnostic capabilities.
Guide architecture and execution for scalable systems including telemetry ingestion, transformation, storage, monitoring, analytics, and automated workflows.
Establish organization-wide standards for service reliability, security, compliance, privacy, observability, data quality, and operational excellence.
Lead the organization in identifying systemic opportunities and driving engineering action using telemetry, statistical methods, and experimentation.
Drive architectural simplification, automation, AI-assisted analysis, and self-service capabilities to detect issues earlier and increase engineering leverage.
Build and develop a solid and inclusive engineering organization by hiring, coaching, and developing managers and technical leaders.
Create alignment across Windows engineering, data science, security, and other organizations, resolving cross-team dependencies and influencing senior leaders.

Requirements

12+ years of software engineering experience.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
3+ years of people-management experience leading software engineers, including developing managers or senior technical leaders.
Extensive experience leading the architecture, development, deployment, and operation of backend services, distributed systems, data pipelines, telemetry platforms, large-scale analytics, or engineering infrastructure.
Demonstrated success building high-performing teams and leading complex, multi-team initiatives that delivered highly reliable production systems or platforms at scale.
Deep technical judgment in service architecture, systems design, data engineering, security, reliability, debugging, and engineering tradeoffs.
Ability to set organizational strategy, navigate ambiguity, make portfolio decisions using data, manage operational and delivery risk, and influence senior technical and product leaders.
Experience leading organizations responsible for cloud services, distributed systems, data engineering, telemetry platforms, developer infrastructure, or business-critical production operations.
Solid knowledge of Windows Fundamentals, Windows internals, reliability engineering, performance analysis, power efficiency, or system-level diagnostics.
Experience leading secure and compliant services with solid observability, deployment controls, data-quality practices, live-site response, and operational accountability.
Experience defining organizational metrics, cohorts, baselines, and measurement strategies using large-scale telemetry, experimentation, statistical analysis, or Azure data platforms.
Track record of shaping architecture and product strategy, applying automation or AI to engineering workflows, developing senior leaders, and driving execution with executive and senior technical stakeholders.
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements, including Microsoft Cloud Background Check.

Desired Qualifications

Experience with technologies including C, C++, C#, Python, PowerShell, SQL/KQL, scripting, and automation tools.
Familiarity with WinDbg, Windows Performance Analyzer, ETW, and diagnostic and trace-processing systems.
Knowledge of Kusto, Azure services and data platforms, distributed systems, orchestration, storage, deployment, and monitoring systems.
Experience with Power BI, statistics, experimentation, anomaly detection, and large-scale telemetry analysis.
Exposure to Machine learning, AI-assisted analysis, and automated diagnostic and remediation workflows.

Benefits

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.

Skills

CC++C#PythonPowerShellSQLKQLWinDbgWindows Performance AnalyzerETWAzurePower BIMachine learning

#Windows#Fundamentals#backend services#telemetry#data pipelines#metrics#diagnostics#reliability#performance#battery life#memory efficiency#health#architecture#management#leadership#cloud services#distributed systems#data engineering#developer infrastructure#production operations#Windows internals#security#compliance#observability#data quality#live-site response#operational excellence#statistical methods#experimentation#systems debugging#automation#AI#self-service#risk management#talent development#inclusion

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