Microsoft

Principal Software Engineer - CoreAI

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

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 6+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python, or equivalent experience.
  • Demonstrated technical leadership through influence in design and architecture.
  • Master's Degree in Computer Science or related field is preferred, with 8+ years of relevant experience or a Bachelor's with 12+ years.
  • Experience in prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and memory frameworks.
  • Familiarity with compliance and security standards for enterprise AI solutions.

Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and operate production-grade generative AI and multimodal systems with end-to-end ownership.
  • Lead technical design for core GenAI capabilities and make data-driven tradeoffs.
  • Define and improve model and system quality using evaluation frameworks and telemetry.
  • Collaborate with security, privacy, and compliance partners to align solutions with Responsible AI standards.
  • Provide technical leadership by setting direction, reviewing designs, and mentoring engineers.
  • Partner with product teams to translate requirements into APIs and enhance developer experience.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive healthcare coverage.
  • Retirement plans and stock options.
  • Generous paid time off and holidays.
  • Continuous learning and development opportunities.
  • Access to wellness programs and employee resources.
Full Job Description
Overview

You will work in a group focusing on advancing Azure Content Understanding, a multimodal AI capability that enables organizations to transform unstructured data-such as text, documents, audio, images, and video-into structured, actionable insights.

As a Principal Engineer on the team, you will work on building end-to-end multimodal AI systems that process and extract insights from diverse multi-modality data types. In this role, you will combine strong software engineering with applied ML expertise to design and ship production systems using techniques like context engineering, data generation and rigorous evaluation/metrics to continuously improve quality.

Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and operate production-grade generative AI and multimodal systems, with end-to-end ownership from concept through deployment and service operations.


  • Lead technical design for core GenAI capabilities (e.g., retrieval-augmented generation, context and memory, orchestration) and make data-driven tradeoffs across quality, latency, cost, and safety.


  • Define and improve model and system quality using evaluation frameworks, experiment design, and production telemetry; ensure robust testing and regression coverage.


  • Collaborate with security, privacy, and compliance partners to build solutions that meet enterprise requirements and align with Responsible AI standards and practices.


  • Provide technical leadership across teams by setting direction, reviewing designs, unblocking execution, and mentoring engineers on architecture, coding standards, and ML engineering best practices.


  • Partner with product and customers to understand scenarios, translate requirements into well-designed APIs and developer experiences, and drive adoption through documentation and samples.


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


Preferred Qualifications:

  • Master'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 Bachelor'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 equivalent experience.
  • Advanced degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field.


  • Demonstrated technical leadership through influence (e.g., leading designs, setting architecture direction, mentoring engineers).


  • Experience with prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and memory/agent frameworks.


  • Experience building and shipping generative AI systems (including multimodal scenarios).


  • Familiarity with compliance and security standards in enterprise AI solutions.


  • Track record of delivering enterprise-facing AI products at scale.


  • Experience building and operating ML/AI systems in cloud environments; familiarity with MLOps practices (Azure a plus).


  • Experience partnering with cross-functional stakeholders to define requirements and drive technical decisions.


#CoreAI

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.

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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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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
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