Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

12d

About The Position

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer (Level 65) to lead the design, development, and operation of large‑scale Office web and cloud services. This role focuses on backend and service‑oriented systems that power Microsoft 365 experiences at global scale. The ideal candidate is a senior individual contributor with deep expertise in distributed systems, service reliability, and cloud architecture, operating with broad influence across multiple engineering teams. 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. 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

Experience building Office / Microsoft 365 backend services (e.g., collaboration, storage, identity‑adjacent, or metadata services).
Deep knowledge of cloud platforms (Azure), service deployment, and CI/CD pipelines.
Experience with high‑throughput, low‑latency services and large‑scale data processing.
Background in operational excellence, including on‑call ownership and post‑incident analysis.
Ability to influence service architecture beyond a single team while remaining hands‑on.
6+ years of professional software engineering experience
Expertise in distributed systems, backend services, and API‑driven architectures.
Proven experience designing, building, and operating production cloud services at scale.
Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical initiatives across multiple teams.
Experience owning live service health, including monitoring, diagnostics, and incident mitigation.

Responsibilities

Lead the architecture, design, and implementation of highly available, scalable Office web services and service platforms.
Own end‑to‑end technical responsibility for critical service components, including APIs, data flows, and backend processing pipelines.
Drive service fundamentals: reliability, availability, performance, scalability, security, privacy, and compliance.
Partner closely with Product Management, dependent service teams, and platform partners (e.g., identity, storage, telemetry) to deliver cohesive service experiences.
Identify and resolve complex, ambiguous technical problems affecting live production systems.
Establish and evolve engineering best practices for service design, operational readiness, and incident response.
Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership through design reviews, architecture guidance, and operational rigor.

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