Software Engineer II - Remote Desktop Protocol & Redirection
About The Position
Join Microsoft’s Windows Cloud Experiences team to build core Windows client technologies that power secure, high-performance remote desktop experiences at global scale. As part of the Windows + Devices organization, you will design and ship foundational Windows client components that integrate with the operating system, devices, and hardware while connecting to cloud-powered services. The role is suited for engineers experienced in native C++ software close to the operating system, particularly in performance-sensitive and reliability-critical environments. You will solve systems-level problems, contribute to technical design decisions, and own well-scoped features and components through the engineering lifecycle. The work includes developing native Windows components and device-redirection capabilities for remote desktop and virtualization scenarios, diagnosing and optimizing complex Windows client software, and collaborating with platform, security, device, and engineering teams. You will take features through design, implementation, testing, deployment, telemetry, and live-site debugging, and contribute to improvements in engineering quality and maintainability. Microsoft describes its mission as empowering every person and organization to achieve more, with a culture grounded in growth mindset, innovation, collaboration, respect, integrity, accountability, and inclusion.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 2+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages including C++ or C#, 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
- Experience developing native Windows applications or system components.
- Experience with Win32, COM, Windows services, or Windows system APIs.
- Experience debugging performance, memory, threading, or concurrency issues in native code.
- Experience with device integration, USB, HID, audio/video, or driver-adjacent development.
- Familiarity with remote desktop or virtualization technologies such as RDP or ICA.
- Experience using ETW, traces, dumps, or debuggers for Windows diagnostics.
- Experience using AI-assisted engineering tools responsibly to improve development, testing, or debugging workflows.
Responsibilities
- Implement native Windows components in modern C++, integrating with Win32, COM, Windows services, and system APIs.
- Build capabilities involving device redirection, input, display, audio/video, USB, and HID integration for remote desktop and virtualization scenarios.
- Develop and maintain cross-process, cross-thread, performance-critical code paths where correctness, latency, reliability, and stability are important.
- Contribute to technical design decisions and evaluate tradeoffs across Windows client components and devices.
- Investigate and resolve systems-level issues spanning kernel and user-mode boundaries, operating system integration, drivers, services, and client applications.
- Optimize memory usage, threading models, IPC, and I/O within complex, long-running Windows client processes.
- Diagnose performance, reliability, memory, and concurrency issues using telemetry, traces, dumps, debuggers, and other diagnostic tools.
- Partner with Windows platform, security, device, and other engineering teams to design robust and secure implementations.
- Work through technically ambiguous problems, identify appropriate engineering tradeoffs, and carry solutions across component boundaries.
- Own well-scoped features across the engineering lifecycle, including design, implementation, testing, deployment, telemetry, and live-site debugging.
- Contribute to design and code reviews, applying engineering practices for testability, performance, reliability, and long-term maintainability.
- Contribute to iterative improvements to Windows client technologies in an agile engineering environment with frequent releases.
- Investigate customer and production issues, determine root causes, and implement engineering improvements that reduce recurrence.
- Share systems-level knowledge through design discussions and code reviews, and contribute to raising engineering quality across the team.
Benefits
- Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation; additional benefits and pay information is available through Microsoft Careers.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
