Principal AI Software Engineer - DevOps Acceleration

Microsoft • ,

1d • $165,600 - $331,200

About The Position

The Principal AI Software Engineer will work in Microsoft Commerce Engineering, which builds platforms that support how Microsoft sells to and serves customers and partners worldwide. The role focuses on using AI across DevOps to reduce the time from idea to launched feature, while maintaining the security, compliance, Responsible AI, and reliability guardrails needed by a global commerce business.

The engineer will map the software lifecycle, identify delays, and use AI and automation to improve delivery from planning through incident response. They will establish design principles for AI use in engineering, evaluate industry tools and practices, recommend whether to build, buy, or skip, and help move successful approaches from pilots into standard practice. The role also measures outcomes such as lead time, deployment frequency, change failure rate, and developer experience, and sets technical direction across Microsoft Commerce through architecture leadership and influence.

The position requires a Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter. The role is Software Engineering IC6. The typical U.S. base pay range is USD $165,600–$296,400 per year, with a range of USD $220,800–$331,200 per year for specified locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metropolitan area. The position will be open for at least five days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until filled.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 8+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages including, but not limited to, Go, Rust, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python, or equivalent experience.
• Pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.

Nice To Haves

• A proven record of using AI tools or agentic workflows to measurably shorten engineering cycle time at scale.
• Deep, hands-on knowledge of the AI developer tools landscape, with well-reasoned opinions on what works.
• Demonstrated DevOps and SRE background, including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, Kubernetes, safe deployment, and observability.
• Experience building engineering guardrails, such as policy as code, supply-chain security, and compliance automation, in regulated environments.
• Experience with LLM-enabled applications, AI agents, or production AI platforms.
• Clear and direct communication, with a record of influencing senior leaders without direct authority.

Responsibilities

• Map the full lifecycle from idea to production, identify major delays, and reduce them using AI and automation.
• Integrate AI into planning, coding, code review, testing, release, rollout, and incident response, and move successful approaches from pilot to standard practice.
• Define global design principles for AI use in engineering, including where AI should and should not be used, and support adoption across teams.
• Build automated controls that preserve security, compliance, Responsible AI, and reliability without relying on manual approvals.
• Evaluate AI tools and practices across the industry and make build, buy, or skip recommendations.
• Challenge designs, roadmaps, and AI claims with evidence to improve the quality of offerings.
• Track outcomes using metrics such as lead time, deployment frequency, change failure rate, and developer experience.
• Mentor senior engineers, lead architecture reviews, and set technical direction across Microsoft Commerce.
• Embody Microsoft's culture and values.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal