Microsoft

Principal Software Engineer - Architect

Microsoft$165K — $296K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field plus 8+ years technical engineering experience, or equivalent experience.
  • Proficiency in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python.
  • Ability to meet Microsoft and government security screening requirements.
  • Master's Degree in relevant field plus 12+ years experience, or equivalent experience with increased coding experience.
  • Experience in developing AI solutions and deep understanding of distributed systems.

Responsibilities

  • Architect scalable, maintainable solutions focused on reliability and diagnosability.
  • Collaborate with stakeholders to define and refine system requirements based on telemetry and feedback.
  • Champion coding best practices and mentor engineers through code reviews.
  • Define and drive testing strategies, ensuring thorough coverage and CI/CD integration.
  • Improve engineering productivity by addressing tooling gaps and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Lead incident management, conducting root-cause analysis for system issues and driving improvements.

Benefits

  • Opportunity for professional development and mentorship.
  • Engage in innovative projects at scale.
  • Collaborative work environment with cross-functional teams.
  • Access to modern tooling and frameworks for enhanced developer experience.
  • Participation in a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Full Job Description
Responsibilities

- Architects extensible and maintainable solutions that emphasize diagnosability, reliability, and resilience at scale.
- Drives requirements and design by partnering with stakeholders, including program managers, technical leads, and architects, to define and refine messaging system requirements. Leverages telemetry, customer feedback, and usage patterns to inform architectural decisions and shape the product roadmap. Establishes continuous feedback loops to measure customer value, reliability, and operational health, ensuring future design iterations are data-driven.

- Champions coding best practices, design patterns, and reusable frameworks across the team. Ensures production-ready code with minimal defects and mentors engineers through hands-on guidance and comprehensive code reviews.

- Defines testing strategies for messaging system components, establishing quality gates and success criteria across unit, integration, and end-to-end testing. Drives improvements in test coverage, removes obsolete tests, and identifies gaps in the testing framework. Leads the integration of automation into CI/CD pipelines to continuously validate reliability and performance under realistic workloads.

- Improves engineering productivity by identifying tooling gaps across the cloud messaging development lifecycle. Designs and builds internal tools, frameworks, and libraries that streamline development, debugging, and operational workflows. Evaluates and advocates for open-source solutions where appropriate. Mentors engineers on modern tooling practices and fosters a culture of continuous improvement in developer experience.

- Leads incident response and operational excellence as an Incident Manager. Monitors messaging systems for degradation, downtime, and service interruptions, driving rapid root-cause analysis and resolution of complex distributed systems issues. Coordinates cross-functional response efforts, communicates status to stakeholders, ensures SLA compliance, authors post-incident reviews, and drives systemic improvements to prevent recurrence.

Embody our culture and values

Qualifications

NOTE to Admins: This whole section including "Required/Minimum Qualifications" + "Other Requirements" + "Preferred/Additional Qualifications" must all be placed into Employee Central into the single field that says 'Qualifications'

Qualifications

Required/Minimum 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.


Job Requirements: Other & Additional

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/Additional 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.
  • Hands on experince of developing AI Agentic solutions.
  • Deep understanding in distributed systems, strong analytical skills, and a proven track record of delivering large-scale services end to end preferably Pub/Sub and messaging services.


#azdat

#azuredata

#messaging #azureeventgrid #eventgrid #microsoftfabric #pubsub #azure

Software Engineering IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $165,600 - $296,400 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 $220,800 - $331,200 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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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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