Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

About The Position

We are the Store Database Team within Microsoft’s Substrate Storage Fabric—the core platform that fuels Microsoft 365 experiences, from Outlook and Teams to the latest AI-powered Copilot innovations. The Store Database team builds and operates the core data infrastructure that powers Microsoft’s cloud-scale storage systems. We design and deliver highly available, performant, and scalable database solutions that support mission-critical workloads across the Substrate Platform. Our technology underpins key scenarios fundamental to Microsoft—including AI and Copilot experiences—by ensuring reliable, efficient, and consistent access to data at massive scale. We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer with deep experience and expertise in building and shipping ultra high scale storage and data access solutions. 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

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with 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 are required for this role.
This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.
Deep expertise in distributed storage systems, databases, cloud infrastructure, and service architecture, including performance optimization, scalability, resiliency, data durability, and operational excellence at hyperscale.
Experience designing and operating AI-native services and applying AI-assisted engineering practices across system design, development, testing, deployment, and operations while maintaining high standards for security, privacy, compliance, and reliability.
Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, drive cross-organizational technical strategy, mentor senior engineers, and make data-driven architectural decisions in complex, highly collaborative engineering environments.

Responsibilities

Lead architecture, design, and delivery of large-scale storage platform capabilities that power Microsoft 365 data services, driving improvements in scalability, reliability, performance, and storage efficiency.
Drive technical strategy and execution across complex initiatives spanning distributed databases, storage systems, data protection, capacity planning, and next-generation platform modernization.
Partner with engineers, product managers, security, compliance, and dependent service teams to define technical direction, resolve cross-system challenges, and translate business and customer needs into durable technical solutions.
Lead the design of AI-native systems and distributed storage architectures, applying modern engineering practices that leverage AI-assisted development for system design, implementation, testing, debugging, and operations.
Establish technical standards and guardrails that ensure AI-enabled solutions remain secure, reliable, maintainable, and cost-efficient at hyperscale.
Use telemetry, experimentation, and data-driven analysis to identify bottlenecks, improve service health, optimize resource utilization, and guide engineering investments and architectural decisions.
Lead live-site excellence by driving root-cause analysis, resiliency improvements, operational automation, incident prevention, and safe deployment practices for mission-critical services running at global scale.
Mentor engineers and technical leaders across the organization, raise engineering standards, build shared technical judgment, and foster a culture of ownership, innovation, inclusion, and customer obsession.