Principal Software Engineer - Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

23h

About The Position

The Principal Software Engineer owns the technical direction and evolution of core components of Microsoft Ads’ mission-critical, high-throughput real-time bidding platform. The platform processes millions of auction requests per second and executes complex auction logic under strict latency constraints, with direct impact on revenue, win rate, partner satisfaction, and reliability. The role focuses on modernization, performance, scalability, experimentation infrastructure, and operational excellence. The engineer leads the design and implementation of scalable, high-performance backend systems, and drives modernization and long-term sustainability of critical services. The position requires deep expertise in low-latency distributed systems and leadership in large-scale refactoring and platform modernization. It also involves defining instrumentation, observability, and experimentation capabilities; working with engineering, data science, product, experimentation, infrastructure, and business stakeholders; and providing technical leadership and mentorship. The role drives initiatives with company-level impact to support the future growth of Microsoft Ads.

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.
Experience working on high-throughput production systems where scalability, latency, and stability are critical.
Experience with performance and system optimization or tuning.
Demonstrated ability to design, evolve, and maintain complex systems over time.
Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver solutions aligned with business needs.
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to analyze and address performance or reliability issues in production environments.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 8+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python, or equivalent experience.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 12+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python, or equivalent experience.
Experience with real-time bidding systems, ad tech, or high-frequency decision systems.
Experience working with ML-driven decision systems or integrating models into production pipelines.
Exposure to large-scale data processing or feature pipelines.
Experience with cloud environments and modern deployment practices.

Responsibilities

Own technical direction and execution for core components of a high-scale, latency-sensitive real-time bidding service.
Lead the design and implementation of scalable, high-performance backend systems operating under strict latency and reliability requirements.
Drive platform modernization and long-term sustainability of critical services, improving code quality, maintainability, and operational safety.
Ensure service performance, scalability, and stability as traffic, data volume, and business requirements grow.
Define and evolve instrumentation, observability, and experimentation capabilities to support data-driven decisions and safe production changes.
Collaborate with engineering, data science, experimentation, product, and infrastructure partners to align technical solutions with business goals.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship, influencing architecture decisions and engineering best practices across teams.