Microsoft

Principal AI Software Engineer

Microsoft • $142K — $274K *
Hillsboro, OR 97124In-Person
Enterprise Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field with 6+ years technical engineering experience in programming languages such as C, C++, Java, or Python.
  • 12+ years in systems software with a focus on guiding architecture and software enabling.
  • Proven experience leading co-design projects involving CPU and systems architecture.
  • In-depth knowledge of Linux kernel internals and memory management.
  • Hands-on experience with NVIDIA GPU software stacks and related technologies.
  • Familiarity with AI inference infrastructure and performance optimization.

Responsibilities

  • Lead system software prototyping to evaluate memory reduction capabilities for Azure.
  • Develop insights from workload characterization to identify optimization opportunities.
  • Collaborate with experts to engineer TCO-optimized Azure solutions.
  • Influence hardware architecture with data-driven analysis for long-term improvements.
  • Optimize Large Language Model inference workloads focused on various memory technologies.
  • Assess memory-tiering architectures for AI inference through proof-of-concept development.
  • Analyze data movement across subsystems, identifying enhancements.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health care coverage including medical, dental, and vision.
  • Flexible work arrangements to support work-life balance.
  • Opportunities for career development and continued education.
  • Generous paid time off including vacation and parental leave.
  • Employee discounts and wellness programs.
Full Job Description
Responsibilities
  • Lead full system software prototyping to develop capable proof-of-concepts to evaluate hardware/software co-designed capabilities for memory TCO reduction such as through memory tiering/pooling and overcommit solutions for Azure usages and deployment scenarios.
  • Develop deep insights through workload characterization and correlation to identify systems optimization opportunities.
  • Collaborate with diverse workload experts across Microsoft and partner ISVs to engineer TCO-optimized solutions for Azure general-purpose and specialized compute fleet.
  • Influence and shape hardware architecture and industry alignment, targeting three-to-six-year timeframe, with data-driven analysis, insights and recommendations.
  • Lead characterization and optimization of Large Language Model (LLM) inference workloads with focus on KV Cache capacity, placement, migration, and utilization across GPU HBM, host DRAM, CXL memory expansion/pooling, SSD, and emerging memory tiers.
  • Develop proof-of-concepts and evaluation frameworks to assess memory-tiering architectures for AI inference, including CXL pooled memory, memory expansion solutions, context-memory platforms, SSD-backed cache tiers, and hardware/software co-designed approaches for reducing inference TCO.
  • Design and execute workload characterization studies for agentic, multi-turn, coding, reasoning, and long-context AI workloads to quantify memory consumption, latency, throughput, token efficiency, and system utilization.
  • Analyze end-to-end data movement across GPU, CPU, storage, and networking subsystems, identifying optimization opportunities within GPU Direct Storage (GDS), GPU Direct RDMA (GDR), peer-to-peer memory transfers, and distributed inference pipelines.
  • Develop software prototypes, framework extensions, and instrumentation to evaluate KV Cache offload, prefetching, migration, compression, deduplication, and memory-overcommit techniques.
  • Build performance models and simulation frameworks to predict the impact of memory hierarchy innovations on large-scale inference deployments.


Qualifications

Required/minimum qualifications
  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.


Other Qualifications:
  • 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:
  • 12+ years of experience in systems software (OS kernel, memory management, I/O stacks, Virtualization) with demonstrated track record of success, guiding architecture and software enabling.
  • 10+ years of experience leading significant hardware/software co-design projects involving CPU and/or systems architecture and influencing technical direction.
  • Deep expertise in Linux kernel internals, memory management, I/O subsystems, NUMA, DMA, and GPU/CPU/storage/network data paths.
  • Hands-on experience with NVIDIA GPU software stacks including CUDA, NCCL, GPUDirect Storage (GDS), and GPUDirect RDMA (GDR).
  • Understanding of AI inference infrastructure, large GPU clusters, inference serving architectures, and workload performance optimization.
  • Experience characterizing and optimizing KV Cache intensive workloads including long-context, agentic, multi-turn, coding, and reasoning workloads.
  • Experience with inference frameworks such as vLLM, SGLang, and TensorRT-LLM.
  • Familiarity with KV Cache technologies including LMCache, SGLang HiCache, cache offload, cache sharing, and memory tiering approaches.
  • Experience designing or extending inference runtimes, scheduling systems, memory management components, or KV Cache subsystems.
  • Understanding of disaggregated prefill/decode architectures, distributed inference serving, and multi-node cache-sharing topologies.
  • Experience with CXL memory expansion, memory pooling, and memory tiering solutions in large-scale deployments.
  • Software development skills in C/C++, Python, CUDA, and distributed systems.
  • Skilled in partnering and influencing architects, hardware engineers, and software leads
  • Ability to manage through ambiguity, bringing clarity and results orientation to engage and energize collaborators and stakeholders
  • Collaboration skills, teamwork, and sense of presumed responsibility
  • Verbal and written communication skills, and ability to articulate and engage with both technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levels.
  • Experience leading and driving complex projects with respect and integrity, including those with multiple workstreams spanning different business and technical disciplines.
  • Intellectual curiosity and passion about learning and deploying new technologies.
  • Problem-solving skills, analytical capabilities, and attention to detail


Software Engineering IC5 - 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.

About Microsoft

Microsoft is an American multinational corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a range of software products and services. Microsoft’s devices and consumer (D&C) licensing segment licenses the Windows operating system and related software, Microsoft Office for consumers, and the Windows Phone operating system. The company’s computing and gaming hardware segment provides Xbox gaming and entertainment consoles and accessories, second-party and third-party video games, and Xbox Live subscriptions; surface devices and accessories; and Microsoft PC accessories. Its phone hardware segment offers Lumia smartphones and other non-Lumia phones. Its D&C segment provides Windows Store, Xbox Live transactions, and Windows phone store; search advertising; display advertising; Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal; first-party video games; and other consumer products and services as well as operating retail stores. Microsoft’s commercial licensing segments license server products, including Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, System Center, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Windows Embedded; Windows operating system; Microsoft Office for business, including Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and related CALs; Microsoft Dynamics business solutions; and Skype. Its commercial segment offers enterprise services, including premier support services and Microsoft consulting services; commercial cloud comprising Office 365 Commercial, other Microsoft Office online offerings, Dynamics CRM Online, and Microsoft Azure; and other commercial products and online services. The company markets and distributes its products through original equipment manufacturers, distributors, and resellers, as well as online.

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Join Microsoft today and be part of a company that values innovation, leadership, and diversity in its workforce. As a global leader in technology and digital transformation, Microsoft offers unparalleled job opportunities that propel your career to new heights.

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Career growth at Microsoft is about more than climbing the corporate ladder; it's about continuous learning, expanding your skills, and improving your capabilities. With access to various leadership and training programs, you can evolve as a professional and make a significant impact within the company and on the global stage.

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Learn more about Microsoft
Size
181,000 employees
Market Cap
$1,762.4 billion
Industry
Enterprise Technology
Net Income
$51.3 billion
Founded
1975
5 Year Trend
+15.5%
Revenue
$153.2 billion
NASDAQ
MSFT
* Ladders Estimates

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