Principal Software Engineer
About The Position
Microsoft is hiring a Principal Software Engineer for its Azure Data Factory team. Azure Data builds data platform products and services, and the databases team develops and maintains operational database systems. The Data Factory team builds and operates data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration services, with a focus on cost-efficient delivery, quality, security, and operation at scale. In this principal-level role, you will set technical direction for large systems, lead engineering initiatives across teams, and make significant design and architecture decisions. You will design and develop scalable, reliable, and secure systems; resolve complex technical issues; and guide engineering practices. The role also involves partnering with leaders and teams across the organization, influencing roadmaps and platform adoption, mentoring engineers, and strengthening engineering culture and talent.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 8+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python, or equivalent experience.
- Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements, including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
Nice To Haves
- 10+ years of software engineering experience.
- Proven track record of delivering large-scale services or products.
- Experience leading complex cross-team initiatives.
- Deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud computing, system architecture, performance and scalability, and security and reliability engineering.
- Proficiency in C#, Java, C++, Python, Go, and Azure technologies.
- Strategic thinking, technical influence without direct authority, executive-level communication, strong stakeholder management, and organizational problem solving.
Responsibilities
- Define technical vision and architecture for large systems.
- Lead cross-team engineering initiatives and drive technical strategy aligned with business objectives.
- Make critical design and architecture decisions.
- Design, build, and review scalable, reliable, and secure systems.
- Resolve highly complex technical issues.
- Optimize performance, availability, and operational excellence.
- Guide teams in implementing engineering practices.
- Partner with Product Management, Design, Data Science, Security, and Engineering Leaders.
- Influence roadmaps across multiple organizations.
- Drive adoption of shared platforms and services.
- Lead major engineering investments.
- Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar through code and design reviews.
- Develop engineering talent and future technical leaders.
- Foster engineering culture and innovation.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
