Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft • Redmond, WA

7d • Hybrid

About The Position

Join our Web Data Platform Team as a Principal Software Engineer to envision and build Web scale Platforms and SOTA models for semantic understanding of Multi Modal Documents.
In today's AI-driven world, where data is more valuable than ever, we're embarking on an exciting mission to elevate our platform, harnessing additional richness to position it as the integral building block of AI solutions across the industry. If you're passionate about building high-performance systems that are foundational in powering AI solutions, this is the place for you!
We are looking for someone who is a proven technical leader . You will be regularly expected to present technical/product strategy and Architectural choices to senior Leaders.
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.
Starting January 26, 2026, Microsoft AI (MAI) employees who live within a 50- mile commute of a designated Microsoft office in the U.S. or 25-mile commute of a non-U.S., country-specific location are expected to work from the office at least four days per week. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction.

Requirements

• Bachelor'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 equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

• Master'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 Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 15+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.
• Experience in large scale system architecture, design, development, testing, and release, including but not limited to web applications, microservices in layers, database design, API design, performance tuning, telemetry design and analysis.
• Demonstrated programming skills and knowledge of architectural patterns for large, high-scale applications.
• Proficient analytical skills with systematic and structured approaches to software design.
• Deeper understanding of AI Models.
• Committed collaboration and communication around articulating technical details.
• Experience with large-scale distributed data platforms, such as: Apache Spark, Kafka, Columnar storage, data modeling and schema designs.
• Experience as a technical lead.

Responsibilities

• Play a key role in building large scale platforms that are at the core of Bing Search, AI Grounding and Microsoft AI training scenarios.
• Drive transformative scenarios powering 1B+ users.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees