OverviewSome systems you can quietly take offline at 2am for maintenance. This is not one of them. Every time someone clicks a link, opens a file, or loads a website on one of the more than a billion devices Microsoft Defender protects, a question has to be answered in milliseconds: is this safe? Tens of billions of times a day, the cloud services behind that answer say yes, or no, and stand behind it. I'm looking for the engineering leader who will build and run them. Here's what you'll own. This is the cloud brain of Microsoft Defender's real-time protection: file threat defense, URL and web reputation, network protection, and the threat-intelligence pipelines and verdict services that feed them. It's powered by hundreds of ML models and graph-based intelligence, drawing on first- and third-party signal at planetary scale. It cannot be wrong, and it cannot be slow.
You'll lead a high-performing team of engineers spanning real-time systems, large-scale data platforms, ML, and threat intelligence. And you'll inherit a genuinely hard, genuinely important agenda: modernizing the protection stack onto Kubernetes, modern .NET, and ARM-based compute; unifying fragmented threat intelligence into a single platform and set of APIs the rest of Microsoft Security can build on; scaling AI-driven detection; and doing all of it while the service stays always-on for a billion people and gets more efficient every quarter. This is one of the most consequential engineering roles in Microsoft Security. The person in it shapes how a billion devices stay safe, in real time.
We are looking for Engineering Manager leader who has built and operated large-scale, low-latency cloud services, who grows the engineers around them, and who runs toward the hardest problems. Amazing systems are built by people who care, and at this scale, the leader sets the standard. If protecting a billion people in real time sounds like the problem you want, let's talk.
Responsibilities- Own the cloud brain of Microsoft Defender's real-time protection, including file threat defense, URL and web reputation, network protection, and the threat-intelligence pipelines and verdict services that support them.
- Lead a high-performing team of engineers across real-time systems, large-scale data platforms, machine learning, and threat intelligence.
- Drive the modernization of the protection stack onto Kubernetes, modern .NET, and ARM-based compute.
- Unify fragmented threat intelligence into a single platform and set of APIs that the broader Microsoft Security ecosystem can build on.
- Scale AI-driven detection capabilities powered by hundreds of ML models and graph-based intelligence.
- Ensure the service remains always-on, highly accurate, and low-latency while operating at planetary scale for over a billion users.Improve system efficiency quarter over quarter while maintaining reliability and performance standards.
- Set a high bar for engineering excellence by growing and developing engineers, and leading through complex, high-impact technical challenges.
- Embody our Culture and Values
QualificationsRequired Qualifications:- 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.
Other Requirements: Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
- Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
Preferred qualifications:- Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 15+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.
6+ years people management experience. - 4+ years of people management experience, including experience leading multiple teams and managing other managers.
- Experience designing, delivering, and operating large-scale distributed systems or cloud services in production.
- Proven track record operating always-on, low-latency, high-availability cloud services at global scale (high request-per-second, multi-region, including sovereign clouds).
- Domain background in security such as threat protection, threat intelligence, anti-malware, web/URL or network protection, EDR, or detection systems.
- Experience leading AI/ML-driven systems and large-scale data platforms (e.g., telemetry, model training and serving, graph-based intelligence).
- Experience driving large-scale platform modernization and migrations (e.g., Kubernetes/AKS, modern .NET, ARM-based compute) and operational efficiency/COGS improvements.
- Demonstrated ability to set technical strategy, influence senior stakeholders, and drive execution across organizational boundaries.
- Experience building and leading high-performing engineering teams.
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Software Engineering M5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.
