Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft • Redmond, WA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

You will join the Calendar team within Microsoft’s Time + Places organization, where we are redefining when, where, and how work happens in a hybrid world. Our team builds intelligent, highly reliable scheduling and coordination services that help millions of people reduce cognitive overload, collaborate more effectively, and reclaim their time. You will work on foundational systems that power Microsoft Calendar experiences across Outlook, Teams, Places, and Copilot.
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will lead the design, architecture, and evolution of large‑scale backend services that enable intelligent scheduling, asynchronous collaboration, and location‑aware coordination. You will operate in an AI‑native product environment, using AI not only in what we build, but in how we build—accelerating iteration, improving quality, and unlocking new forms of innovation. This opportunity will allow you to drive technical strategy, run fast learning cycles through experimentation, and influence long‑term architectural direction across Microsoft 365 while working in a flexible hybrid environment.
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

• 6+ years professional experience designing and owning large‑scale, distributed, cloud‑based services.
• Proven ability to lead technical design and influence architecture across teams and organizations.
• Experience building or enabling Copilot, agent‑based, or AI‑assisted user experiences.
• Experience with Microsoft Graph, Microsoft 365 services, Outlook, Teams, or workplace productivity platforms.
• Experience in using AI‑assisted engineering practices (e.g., design exploration, rapid prototyping, evaluation, and iteration) to accelerate learning, quality, and delivery.
• Experience mentoring engineers and driving technical excellence across teams.

Responsibilities

• Partner with appropriate stakeholders to determine user and platform requirements for intelligent scheduling, coordination, and Copilot‑powered scenarios, grounding decisions in rapid feedback and real‑world usage.
• Lead identification of dependencies and author end‑to-end design documents for large‑scale services spanning Calendar, Outlook, Teams, Places, and Microsoft 365 substrate systems.
• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction, producing extensible and maintainable code used across multiple products and services, while leveraging AI‑assisted development techniques to improve velocity and quality.
• Drive AI‑native product making, using models and tooling to accelerate design exploration, code generation, testing, debugging, and analysis as a natural part of the engineering workflow.
• Hold accountability as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI), mentoring engineers, participating in on‑call rotations, and leading resolution of complex service issues with a focus on learning and system improvement.
• Optimize for fast learning and iteration by enabling short development cycles, running regular experiments, incorporating telemetry and evaluation signals, and applying insights to continuously improve reliability, performance, and user impact at scale.

What This Job Offers

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