Principal Design Manager

Microsoft • Redmond, WA

8d

About The Position

The CoreAI Computational Design team is shaping the next generation of experiences in Microsoft Foundry. We support developers who build and operate AI apps and agents with enterprise‑grade security, observability, and governance, using a single unified platform. We are looking for a design leader who can guide this frontier with courage and curiosity.
This role calls for someone who loves to design and is equally at home guiding a team of designers as they are prototyping and exploring new interaction paradigms themselves. By combining leadership with craft, you will help a passionate community of designers realize their ideas and build the experiences of tomorrow. We are committed to building with responsibility and trust at the foundation, moving quickly while ensuring the innovation we deliver is both lasting and meaningful.
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Requirements

• Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 7+ years experience working in product or service design
• OR Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 9+ years experience working in product or service design
• OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Nice To Haves

• Comfortable in Figma, Terminal, CLI, IDE, and/or Editor-first experiences
• Experience creating interactive prototypes
• 5+ years people management experience.
• Basic knowledge of either VS Code, GitHub, or other development tools
• Comfortable with advancements in Large Language Models and how they accelerate coding tasks today—especially in multi-agent scenarios.
• Experience working in an engineering sprint-based environment
• Fluency in basic web fundamentals (semantic and accessible HTML, CSS variables, progressive enhancement, modern vanilla JavaScript, and web components)

Responsibilities

• Shape the future of building and operating AI agents: Define and communicate a bold vision for AI-native developer tools that inspire and empower millions of developers worldwide.
• Leadwith craft: Mentor and grow a team of designers, modeling what it means to design in and with code while pushing the edges of what is possible.
• Prototype the frontier: Explore new agentic workflows, rapidly test concepts, and translate the latest ideas into tangible, shippable experiences.
• Simplify the complex: Turn what are often confusing AI capabilities into easy-to-comprehend interactions that feel truly human.
• Collaborate across disciplines: Work shoulder-to-shoulder with engineering, product, and research partners to bring strategies to life.
• Champion the developer: Advocate for the needs of individual makers and enterprise teams alike, ensuring our tools serve the full spectrum of creative work.
• Balance speed with responsibility: Move quickly to explore new patterns while grounding every design decision in trust, accessibility, and long-term impact.
• Stay ahead of change: Continuously investigate emerging technologies, frameworks, and prototyping methods to keep CoreAI at the forefront of the coding revolution.

What This Job Offers

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