Principal Solution Engineer

Microsoft • Raleigh, NC

23h • $130,900 - $272,300

About The Position

The Principal Solution Engineer works with multinational enterprise customers to help achieve business goals using Azure. The role builds customer access, establishes trusted technical-adviser relationships, uncovers opportunities, and turns customer ambitions into practical solutions that deliver business value. It combines an enterprise-architecture mindset and broad cloud knowledge with hands-on expertise in applications and artificial intelligence.

The position owns technical direction for complex opportunities and influences customer organizations, aligning teams and taking responsibility for agreed technical outcomes. Work ranges from executive conversations to practical demonstrations, drawing on account teams, specialists, and partners. The role also helps customers modernize applications, develop intelligent applications and agent solutions, and move from architecture toward adoption. Microsoft describes its mission as empowering every person and organization to achieve more, and emphasizes responsible innovation, growth mindset, inclusion, integrity, and customer focus.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field and at least 4 years of technical pre-sales or technical consulting experience; or bachelor's degree in one of those fields and at least 6 years of such experience; or at least 7 years of such experience; or equivalent experience.
• At least 8 years of technical pre-sales, technical consulting, technology delivery, or related experience, or equivalent experience (additional/preferred qualification).
• At least 6 years of experience with cloud and hybrid or on-premises infrastructures, architecture designs, migrations, industry standards, and/or technology management (additional/preferred qualification).
• Microsoft states it is unable to sponsor a work visa for this role due to the nature of the job duties.

Nice To Haves

• Certification in relevant technologies or disciplines, such as Office 365, Power BI, Azure Architect and Development exams, Cloud Platform Technologies, Information Security, or Architecture.
• At least 8 years of technical pre-sales, technical consulting, technology delivery, or related experience, or equivalent experience.
• At least 6 years of experience with cloud and hybrid or on-premises infrastructures, architecture designs, migrations, industry standards, and/or technology management.

Responsibilities

• Build customer access, discover unmet needs across Azure, and create technical opportunities that deliver business value.
• Lead complex engagements spanning technologies, teams, and customer locations; align stakeholders, resolve competing priorities, and drive technical decisions through discovery, workshops, and demonstrations.
• Help customers modernize applications using Azure and cloud-native approaches while balancing existing investments with future business needs.
• Guide modern software delivery and developer productivity, including GitHub and GitHub Copilot.
• Shape intelligent applications and agent solutions using Microsoft Foundry, Copilot technologies, and enterprise data, including Microsoft Fabric where relevant.
• Build focused prototypes and demonstrations to test customer ideas, demonstrate value, and guide secure, responsible AI adoption.
• Take an end-to-end architectural view across Azure infrastructure, networking, identity, security, data, applications, and AI, including hybrid environments.
• Adapt and extend architecture patterns for complex customer requirements; recommend trade-offs among business value, security, reliability, and cost; and develop practical roadmaps.
• Work with specialists, customer success teams, and partners to help customers progress from architecture to adoption.
• Build trusted relationships with developers, architects, Heads of Development, Vice Presidents, and other technical and business stakeholders; listen, challenge constructively, and build consensus.
• Understand customer priorities, programs, and decision-makers, and align technical engagement with broader business and transformation strategies.
• Connect technical choices to customer outcomes and differentiated Microsoft value, using business and commercial judgment to build a case for investment.
• Qualify technical opportunities based on clear customer needs and business value, and agree on meaningful next steps.
• Shape growth strategies for opportunities with account teams, using data and insights to guide investment decisions and overcome technical barriers.
• Lead collaboration across teams and coach technical colleagues and account teams.
• Create reusable architectures and approaches from customer engagements and help others apply them to improve outcomes.
• Maintain hands-on learning, relevant skills, and certifications, and demonstrate inclusion, integrity, and customer focus.

Benefits

• Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation; further information is provided through Microsoft's corporate pay information page.

What This Job Offers

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