Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft • Redmond, WA

16h

About The Position

The Microsoft 365 Copilot team is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to shape long-running agentic capabilities and multi-model experiences, including Critique and Council. The role involves building systems that enable agents to perform complex, multi-step tasks and allow models to review one another’s outputs and combine perspectives to help users reach well-grounded conclusions.

This is a hands-on role focused on taking ideas from architecture to production. The engineer will build scalable, reliable backend services and own implementation, evaluations, shipping, and production reliability. The role involves working with frontier models and collaborating with teams across Microsoft, including Microsoft Research, Azure, and MAI, to turn emerging AI capabilities into customer experiences. Successful candidates bring technical judgment, a data-driven mindset, and a commitment to engineering excellence in a fast-paced, high-visibility environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related technical field and 6+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages such as 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

• Master’s degree in computer science or a related technical field and 6+ years of technical engineering experience, or a bachelor’s degree in computer science and 8+ years of technical engineering experience, or equivalent experience.
• Experience designing, building, shipping, and operating large-scale distributed systems, cloud services, or complex production platforms.
• Experience building production AI systems using large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, agent orchestration, tool integration, or model gateways.
• Experience with AI evaluation and prompt management for production applications.
• Ability to lead complex technical initiatives, influence architectural decisions, drive engineering standards, and align teams across organizational boundaries through clear written and verbal communication.
• Knowledge of Responsible AI and AI safety practices, including privacy, security, compliance, and data-governance requirements for enterprise AI systems.
• Experience with modern AI and agentic engineering practices, including workflow automation and AI-assisted development.

Responsibilities

• Define technical strategy and architecture for long-running agentic capabilities and multi-model experiences in Microsoft 365 Copilot, translating direction into executable plans and measurable outcomes.
• Build and own scalable distributed backend services powering experiences such as Critique and Council, from design and implementation through shipping and production operation.
• Define evaluation methodologies, offline benchmarks, and online experimentation frameworks to measure model and product performance and guide data-driven iteration and release decisions.
• Partner across disciplines to clarify requirements, navigate ambiguity, make technical tradeoffs, and turn emerging AI capabilities into customer experiences.
• Lead complex initiatives across teams and organizations by aligning stakeholders, defining interfaces, resolving dependencies, and balancing priorities.
• Mentor engineers and promote engineering best practices through architecture and code reviews, reusable patterns, and maintainable software.
• Champion responsible AI-assisted and agentic engineering to improve development agility, quality, learning, and speed.
• Foster inclusion, constructive collaboration, shared accountability, and continuous learning in alignment with Microsoft’s culture and values.

What This Job Offers

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