Microsoft

Principal Software Architect

Microsoft$142K — $274K *
Enterprise Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field plus 6+ years engineering experience in relevant coding languages (C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python) or equivalent experience.
  • 12+ years technical engineering experience preferred, with a focus on high-scale distributed cloud services.
  • 6+ years experience designing and implementing features for cloud services is a plus.
  • 3+ years as an architect or technical lead, making strategic decisions is beneficial.
  • Ability to meet stringent security screening requirements including Microsoft Cloud Background Check.

Responsibilities

  • Define and execute the technical strategy and architectural vision for managed identity and service-to-service authentication.
  • Translate long-term strategies into actionable short-term plans, ensuring alignment across teams and stakeholders.
  • Provide mentorship and technical leadership to drive quality through design reviews and hands-on engagement.
  • Shape engineering fundamentals and address systemic risks related to performance, scale, and security.
  • Lead innovation through AI strategy to enhance productivity and operational workflows.
  • Manage live-site excellence by participating in high-severity incident management and post-mortem processes.

Benefits

  • Health, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Retirement savings plans with company match.
  • Generous paid time off and holidays.
  • Opportunities for professional development and career advancement.
  • Access to wellness programs and employee resources.
Full Job Description
Responsibilities
  • Define and own the long-term technical strategy and architectural vision for managed identity and service-to-service authentication, aligning that vision with organizational goals and communicating it effectively to senior leadership and other stakeholders
  • Translate long-term strategy into actionable shorter-term execution plans by driving technical and organizational consensus across multiple engineering teams, partner organizations, customers, and leadership, and ensuring successful delivery.
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship across teams delivering security- and resilience-critical capabilities, setting architectural direction and raising the bar on quality through design leadership, code reviews, and direct hands-on technical engagement
  • Own and drive engineering fundamentals at the platform level, shaping investment priorities and proactively identifying and addressing systemic risks related to performance, scale, resilience, testability, and security across the organization
  • Lead innovation in the application of AI by defining strategy and guiding adoption of AI-driven tools to improve engineering productivity, while also shaping and delivering AI agents that automate operational and engineering workflows at scale
  • Own live-site excellence for the platform by serving as an organizational incident manager during high-severity production events, and by engaging deeply in the pre-mortem and post-mortem processes to drive durable learnings and systemic fixes across multiple services


Qualifications

Required 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 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 background and Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • 6+ years of experience designing and implementing features of high-scale distributed cloud services
  • 3+ years of experience as an architect or technical lead, driving strategic decisions and delivering high-impact technical results

#MSFTSecurity, #Identity

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800.00 - $274,800.00 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 $188,000.00 - $304,200.00 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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Learn more about Microsoft
Size
181,000 employees
Market Cap
$1,762.4 billion
Industry
Net Income
$51.3 billion
Founded
1975
5 Year Trend
+15.5%
Revenue
$153.2 billion
NASDAQ

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