Principal Software Engineer - Windows App and Windows Platform

Microsoft • Redmond, WA

8d • $142,800 - $304,200

About The Position

The Windows Cloud Experiences team builds Windows App, a unified client for connecting to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and remote PCs. The team creates secure, reliable, high-performance experiences that combine native Windows capabilities with cloud-powered services across devices and form factors.

As a Principal Software Engineer on Windows App, you will set technical direction for critical areas of the native Windows client and lead architecture from customer scenarios through implementation, release, and live-site operation. The role focuses on Windows client and platform engineering, with impact across multiple teams and partner organizations. You will address operating-system, networking, identity, remoting, performance, and reliability challenges to make remote Windows experiences secure, responsive, dependable, and deeply integrated with Windows.

You will provide technical leadership across teams, clarify ambiguous problem spaces, align engineering investments with product vision, and guide durable decisions in complex codebases. You will also develop other technical leaders through design guidance, architecture reviews, debugging support, and mentoring.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 6+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python; or equivalent experience.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements, including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.

Nice To Haves

• Deep expertise in Windows systems technologies such as Win32, WinRT, COM, RPC, Windows services, inter-process communication, and core Windows APIs.
• Expertise in remote desktop, virtualization, or virtual desktop infrastructure technologies such as RDP, Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Citrix, VMware Horizon, HDX, or ICA.
• Experience setting architecture for networking, authentication, and identity in Windows clients, including Microsoft Entra ID, MSAL, or Web Account Manager.
• Experience leading the design and debugging of multi-process, multi-threaded, performance-critical native systems, including memory, concurrency, latency, compatibility, and reliability concerns.
• Experience influencing the architecture of Windows App SDK, WinUI, XAML, WebView2, MSIX, or related Windows client technologies.
• Experience building and operating secure, accessible client software at enterprise scale, using telemetry and live-site insights to guide architectural investments.
• Experience with device, input, display, audio/video, or peripheral integration for remote or virtualized scenarios.
• Experience using AI-assisted engineering tools responsibly to improve development, testing, debugging, or engineering productivity.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the long-term architecture and technical strategy for major areas of Windows App and its native Windows platform, using modern C++ and C# where appropriate and integrating with Win32, WinRT, COM, Windows services, and operating-system APIs.
• Lead the design and delivery of high-impact, cross-cutting scenarios spanning connection setup, session lifecycle, authentication, OS integration, reliability, performance, and security.
• Architect secure, scalable, and maintainable systems spanning processes, threads, services, client applications, SDK boundaries, and cloud-backed experiences.
• Lead investigations of complex engineering issues using debuggers, dumps, traces, logs, and telemetry, including issues involving concurrency, memory, networking, latency, compatibility, and operating-system integration.
• Drive multi-team execution from customer and business outcomes through architecture, design, implementation, validation, deployment, experimentation, monitoring, and live-site response; identify risks and make clear technical tradeoffs.
• Build alignment across Windows, Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, identity, security, design, and product teams, influencing partner roadmaps, interfaces, and end-to-end engineering decisions.
• Establish and evolve engineering standards for performance, reliability, accessibility, security, testability, operational excellence, and long-term maintainability across the client platform.
• Develop technical leaders, mentor senior engineers, lead architecture and design reviews, and create clarity in ambiguous or cross-organization problem spaces.

What This Job Offers

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