Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

19h•$165,600 - $331,200

About The Position

Come define how Microsoft 365 Copilot remembers. Memory is what turns an assistant that answers questions into one that genuinely knows your work, carrying context across sessions, surfaces, and agents so every interaction starts smarter than the last. As a Principal Software Engineer on the Copilot memory charter, you will own the systems that make this real: how memory is formed from a user’s work, how it is stored and revised over time, how it is retrieved at inference time, and how it stays private, governed, and under the user’s control. This is a senior role on a fast moving charter with real ambiguity. You will set technical direction end to end, partner closely with Applied Science, PM, and partner engineering teams across Microsoft 365 and Windows, and translate strategy into shipped outcomes at Copilot scale. 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 8+ 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.
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

Master's or Doctorate Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 10+ years of technical engineering experience, OR equivalent experience.
4+ years experience designing, shipping, and operating large scale distributed services or data platforms in production.
Experience building memory, personalization, knowledge graph, or retrieval systems in production, including vector and hybrid search, entity resolution, or user modeling platforms.
Hands on experience with LLM based systems: context construction, agent orchestration, evaluation harnesses, and grounding and safety techniques.
Depth in privacy preserving and compliance sensitive data systems, including data residency, retention and deletion, and consent management.
Demonstrated ability to operate in ambiguous and rapidly evolving problem spaces, balancing scientific exploration with engineering rigor to ship durable systems.
Experience influencing and mentoring senior engineers across teams without direct authority.

Responsibilities

Own the architecture and implementation of Copilot’s memory substrate: storage, schema, write path, retrieval, and lifecycle (consolidation, revision, expiry, and deletion) at Microsoft 365 scale.
Design and ship the pipelines that turn signals across mail, meetings, documents, and chat into high precision memory, and the retrieval layer that makes it useful at inference time.
Set technical direction for privacy, compliance, and user control: consent, transparency, tenant and regional boundaries, retention and deletion, and auditability by design.
Partner with Applied Science on evaluation, including offline and online metrics for memory quality and the experimentation loop that proves memory improves user outcomes.
Raise the engineering bar through design and code reviews, live site and observability practices, and technical mentorship, creating clarity in an ambiguous and fast moving space.
Influence across organizational boundaries to align contracts, schemas, and platform capabilities with partner teams in Microsoft 365, Windows, and the Copilot platform.