Storage System Technical Lead

Microsoft • Redmond, WA

11d • $142,800 - $304,200

About The Position

The Cloud Hardware and System Engineering (CHSE) team is seeking a Principal Hardware Engineer to serve as Storage System Technical Lead (STL) for development of next-generation Azure storage hardware platforms. The STL provides end-to-end technical leadership, bridges architecture and execution, and maintains technical continuity throughout program development and validation. The role brings hardware, firmware, software, validation, manufacturing, and operational workstreams together into a complete, high-quality system solution. It owns end-to-end technical execution, cross-functional integration, design quality, technical readiness, and program-level technical decisions within the approved baseline, while providing technical input and impact assessments for program decisions without displacing functional engineering or program-management ownership.

The role provides system-level technical leadership for Azure storage hardware, aligning architecture, platform design, firmware, validation, manufacturing, and operations around an executable strategy. It addresses the needs of data-intensive cloud and AI workloads, including capacity, performance, availability, serviceability, security, and cost efficiency at global scale. CHSE defines and delivers the systems engineering needed to take cloud hardware platforms from concept through qualification, deployment, and fleet operations. The team is part of Microsoft Silicon, Cloud Hardware, and Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE), which designs and delivers the silicon, hardware systems, firmware, software, and other foundational technologies powering Microsoft Azure.

The typical U.S. base pay range is USD $142,800–$274,800 per year. For specified work locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metropolitan area, the range is USD $188,000–$304,200 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. The position will be open for at least five days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until filled.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field and 7+ years of technical engineering experience; or bachelor's degree in one of those fields or a related field and 8+ years of technical engineering experience; 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

• Extensive experience designing or developing storage hardware platforms, including storage head nodes, JBOD, JBOF, or comparable high-capacity storage systems, and integrating hardware, firmware, and operating systems.
• Experience leading cross-functional technical decisions, storage-system validation strategies, and resolution of complex system-level issues.
• Broad technical understanding of electrical design, signal integrity, mechanical design, thermal engineering, power delivery, processors, memory, storage, networking, system management, security, and industry standards.
• Experience developing high-capacity or high-availability storage systems and familiarity with storage controllers, PCIe, NVMe, SSDs, HDDs, SAS, Ethernet, and related system interfaces.
• Experience evaluating, integrating, or debugging high-speed interfaces such as PCIe, DDR, Ethernet, or SAS at the system level, or comparable technologies.
• Knowledge of system firmware, including BIOS, BMCs, system management protocols, telemetry, update, recovery, and security considerations.
• Knowledge of Windows, Linux, or other operating-system interactions with server and storage hardware.
• Experience integrating silicon, SoCs, FPGAs, controllers, or other complex components into high-volume systems.
• Experience working with ODMs, silicon suppliers, component suppliers, manufacturing partners, and geographically distributed engineering teams.
• Experience taking complex hardware platforms through architecture, design, bring-up, validation, manufacturing, deployment, and sustained operation.
• Experience debugging complex system-level issues and driving root cause, corrective action, validation, and cross-platform fix propagation.
• Understanding of datacenter deployment, serviceability, fleet operations, reliability, and infrastructure operation at scale.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions across organizational boundaries without relying on direct management authority.
• Proven written, verbal, and executive communication skills, including the ability to clearly explain complex technical tradeoffs, risks, decisions, and help-needed items.

Responsibilities

• Provide end-to-end system technical leadership for Azure storage platforms during hardware development and validation, translating approved requirements and architecture into an executable cross-functional technical strategy.
• Drive timely program-level technical decisions across hardware, firmware, software, validation, manufacturing, datacenter integration, and operations, balancing performance, capacity, reliability, availability, serviceability, security, power, cost, schedule, and implementation risk.
• Establish quality expectations for system specifications, subsystem interfaces, design documentation, design reviews, validation strategies, test plans, and launch criteria; maintain traceability from requirements through validation and deployment evidence.
• Identify integration gaps and assess new, unique, difficult, or differentiated technologies and features across subsystems, suppliers, and lifecycle phases; define dependencies, owners, risks, mitigations, validation needs, and closure criteria.
• Lead or sponsor system design reviews with Microsoft engineering teams, silicon and component partners, and original design manufacturers (ODMs); confirm qualification, interoperability, and manufacturing test coverage address system requirements and risks.
• Lead cross-functional resolution of complex issues found during design, bring-up, validation, manufacturing, deployment, or fleet operation, driving root cause, corrective action, verified closure, and propagation of fixes and lessons learned.
• Partner with the Technical Program Manager and Product Owner to assess technical impacts of proposed changes, drive milestone readiness, provide technical approvals defined by program governance, and communicate status, risks, decisions, and help-needed items to leadership.
• Collaborate with architecture, silicon, electrical, mechanical, thermal, power, firmware, operating systems, validation, systems engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, datacenter engineering, operations, suppliers, ODMs, and customer-facing teams to align subsystem decisions, resolve cross-domain dependencies, and deliver an integrated storage platform.

What This Job Offers

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