Microsoft

Principal Software Engineer

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

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field with 6+ years of relevant engineering experience in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python.
  • Master's Degree in Computer Science or related field plus 8+ years of experience, or equivalent experience with a Bachelor's and 12+ years.
  • 5+ years of experience as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) for production services.
  • Strong problem-solving and debugging skills in complex production systems.
  • Proven ability to lead cross-team technical initiatives and influence decisions.

Responsibilities

  • Combine technical expertise and leadership to enhance the Bing Ads platform.
  • Own and improve components of the ads serving stack focusing on scalability and reliability.
  • Lead the auction and pricing engine evolution to optimize performance and revenue.
  • Drive high-impact technical projects from concept through to delivery.
  • Collaborate with various teams to integrate AI capabilities into the auction platform.
  • Set architectural direction and modernize platform capabilities through design reviews.
  • Mentor engineers and elevate technical standards across the organization.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health benefits including medical and dental coverage.
  • Generous paid time off policy, including holidays and sick leave.
  • Retirement savings plan with employer matching contributions.
  • Opportunities for professional development and training.
  • Employee discounts and wellness programs.
Full Job Description
Responsibilities

In this role, you will
  • Combine technical expertise, cross-team leadership, and business impact to shape the future of the Bing Ads platform.
  • Own critical components of the ads serving stack end-to-end, improving scalability, performance, reliability, maintainability, observability, and engineering efficiency.
  • Lead the evolution of the core auction and pricing engine, ensuring correctness, efficiency, low latency, and solid business outcomes for revenue and ad quality.
  • Drive ambiguous, high-impact technical initiatives from concept to delivery, defining strategy, aligning multiple teams, and leading execution through influence.
  • Partner closely with engineering, product, design, and applied science teams to deliver complex cross-functional features and integrate new AI-powered capabilities into the auction platform.
  • Set architectural direction across teams by leading design reviews, modernizing shared platform capabilities and development frameworks, and reducing system complexity.
  • Advance AI-enabled engineering practices and developer productivity through improved tooling, automation, and platform investments.
  • Mentor engineers, establish high engineering standards, and raise the technical bar across the organization.
  • Ensure the health of a high-scale, low-latency platform serving billions of requests daily by driving operational excellence, incident response, root-cause analysis, capacity planning, and performance optimization.
  • Connect technical decisions to business outcomes, translating long-term strategy into a prioritized technical roadmap that improves customer experience, platform reliability, and business growth.


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.


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.
  • 5+ years of experience owning and operating production services as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) or on-call owner.
  • Proven technical design, problem-solving, and debugging skills, with experience working on large, complex production systems.
  • Proven ability to lead technical initiatives across teams, influence architectural decisions, and communicate effectively with engineering and cross-functional partners.
  • Demonstrated success driving ambiguous, high-impact projects independently, delivering complex solutions with minimal direction.
  • Proven experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems throughout the full software development lifecycle.
  • Experience leading architecture and technical execution across multiple teams, influencing engineering strategy and driving technical alignment.
  • Experience building shared platforms, frameworks, or developer productivity solutions.
  • Experience with online advertising, search, or other high-scale, low-latency distributed systems.

#MicrosoftAI #Ads #OnlineServing #Infrastructure

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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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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