Senior Software Engineer

Microsoft • Mountain View, CA

6d • $119,800 - $234,700 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Software Engineer will help build Microsoft Advertising’s agentic bidding platform, which uses AI, machine learning, and large-scale distributed systems to optimize bids in real time across Microsoft marketplaces. The platform processes billions of auction events daily, making millisecond-scale decisions intended to improve advertiser performance and return on ad spend. The role works at the intersection of AI systems, real-time decision-making, and scalable cloud infrastructure, with work that influences advertiser ROI and Microsoft Advertising revenue across Bing, MSN, and the Microsoft ecosystem.

The engineer will partner with data scientists, ML engineers, and product teams to define and build autonomous bidding capabilities. The work includes developing data-quality and validation frameworks, experimentation and simulation systems, and reliable, high-availability bidding services. The position also contributes to technical direction, mentoring, operational excellence, and the adoption of emerging AI approaches such as multi-agent systems and adaptive optimization.

Microsoft employees within a 50-mile commute of a designated U.S. Microsoft Hub are expected to work from the office at least four days per week, subject to local law and jurisdictional variation. The role requires passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter. The position is classified as Software Engineering IC4. The stated U.S. base pay range is $119,800–$234,700 per year, with a separate range of $160,200–$261,000 for the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metropolitan area. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled, and it will be open for at least five days.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 4+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages such as 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

• Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 6+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python; or a bachelor’s degree in a related field and 8+ years of such experience; or equivalent experience.
• 4+ years of hands-on experience with large-scale streaming platforms such as Apache Spark or Flink.
• 4+ years of experience as a technical lead, including mentoring and guiding engineers.
• 5+ years of experience developing and deploying large-scale distributed systems in production environments.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in machine learning operations (MLOps), including pipeline automation, monitoring, and lifecycle management.
• Domain knowledge and experience building large-scale distributed bidding or auction platforms.
• Experience building real-world applications using AI techniques.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with data scientists, ML engineers, and product teams to define requirements for agentic AI-driven bidding capabilities that observe, reason, and adapt autonomously.
• Architect and implement the next-generation agentic bidding platform, enabling AI agents to monitor marketplace signals, interpret advertiser and user behavior, and continuously optimize bidding strategies.
• Build large-scale data validation and quality frameworks to ensure correctness, consistency, and reliability of auction-critical signals feeding AI agents.
• Act as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI), driving operational excellence, incident management, on-call readiness, and high-availability practices for mission-critical bidding services.
• Develop experimentation and simulation frameworks to validate agent behavior and optimize policies before deployment in live auctions.
• Adopt new patterns, technologies, and engineering practices to improve availability, efficiency, performance, and scalability across the bidding stack.
• Set technical direction, mentor engineers, and foster high-quality execution, innovation, and accountability.
• Explore and invest in emerging AI techniques, including multi-agent systems and adaptive optimization, to enhance the autonomy, intelligence, and impact of the bidding platform.

What This Job Offers

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