Principal Design Engineer - XBOX

Microsoft • ,

1d • $142,800 - $304,200

About The Position

XBOX is seeking a Principal Design Engineer to shape developer and creator tools for game developers and players. The role works at the intersection of design and engineering, turning ideas into functional prototypes, reusable systems, and polished product experiences that help people create, collaborate, and play.

As part of XBOX Design, this hands-on technical leadership role partners with designers, researchers, product managers, and engineers to guide experiences from early exploration through production. It combines strong interaction and visual design judgment with front-end engineering expertise. The engineer navigates ambiguity, influences direction across teams, and explores how AI can enable new tools and experiences for creators and players.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Graphic Design, Product Design, Visual Design, Human Computer Interaction, or a related field and 4+ years of experience working in product or service design and/or shipping production code; OR bachelor's degree in one of those fields and 6+ years of such experience; OR 8+ years of such experience; OR equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

• Portfolio demonstrating hands-on design engineering contributions, design craft, and technical decision-making.
• Experience working with AI and large language models.
• Experience building games, developer tools, or tools for game creators or 3D.
• Experience contributing to or using an established design system.
• Experience with React, TypeScript, and supporting tools such as Jest, Storybook, and ESLint.

Responsibilities

• Build and ship high-quality experiences by writing and reviewing front-end code that balances design craft with accessibility, performance, security, and maintainability.
• Lead design quality reviews and own design ship-readiness approval for assigned areas in partnership with Engineering and Product.
• Build interactive prototypes and proofs of concept to explore interaction models, test assumptions, evaluate feasibility, and inform product direction.
• Choose appropriate prototype fidelity for each question and distinguish exploratory code from production-ready solutions.
• Partner with Design, Research, Product, and Engineering to define problems, scope work, and navigate dependencies and tradeoffs.
• Communicate product direction, influence senior stakeholders, and deliver shared commitments with autonomy and accountability.
• Evolve reusable components, interaction patterns, tooling, and documentation to improve consistency and design-to-code workflows across teams.
• Connect related efforts and build on existing foundations.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship through thoughtful reviews and shared practices, influencing work beyond the immediate product area while remaining hands-on.

What This Job Offers

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