Microsoft

Principal Software Engineering, MSN & Windows

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 coding experience in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience
  • Master's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 8+ years of technical engineering experience, or
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 12+ years of coding experience in relevant languages
  • 10+ years of software engineering experience building and shipping large-scale products or services
  • Solid hands-on software development experience in C++, C#, or JavaScript/TypeScript.
  • Experience operating production systems while ensuring reliability and quality.

Responsibilities

  • Lead design and development of large-scale Windows and MSN experiences focused on reliability and performance.
  • Drive technical strategy for Windows Widgets and dashboard experiences.
  • Collaborate with Windows engineering teams for integrated experiences across the ecosystem.
  • Mentor and influence engineering excellence through reviews and discussions.
  • Translate business goals into scalable technical solutions and impact customer experience using data.
  • Champion best practices in quality, operational excellence, accessibility, privacy, and security.
  • Ensure successful delivery of complex initiatives by managing end-to-end execution across teams.

Benefits

  • Health and wellness programs
  • 401(k) retirement plans
  • Generous paid time off policies
  • Professional development and training opportunities
  • Comprehensive insurance options
Full Job Description
Overview

The MSN organization powers personalized content and engagement experiences that reach hundreds of millions of users across Windows and Microsoft surfaces. We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead the evolution of Windows 11 Widgets and the next generation of intelligent content experiences delivered in partnership with the Windows organization.

In this role, you will define technical strategy and architecture across client, service, and platform investments that power personalized, performant, and reliable experiences at global scale. You will work across MSN, Windows, AI, platform, and partner teams to deliver experiences that help users stay informed, productive, and connected to the information that matters most.

As a Principal Engineer, you will be expected to drive broad technical direction, influence engineering investments across organizations, and lead the delivery of complex initiatives that improve customer engagement, quality, reliability, and operational excellence.

Responsibilities
  • Lead the design and development of large-scale Windows and MSN experiences with a focus on reliability, performance, and user engagement.
  • Drive technical strategy and architecture for Windows Widgets, dashboard experiences, content surfaces, and supporting platform components.
  • Experience designing, building, shipping Windows applications, Windows shell experiences, or client-side experiences that integrate with Windows platform capabilities.
  • Partner closely with Windows engineering teams to deliver integrated experiences across the Windows ecosystem.
  • Influence engineering excellence through architecture reviews, design discussions, code reviews, and mentorship.
  • Translate business objectives and customer needs into scalable technical solutions.
  • Use data and experimentation to guide product investments and measure customer impact.
  • Drive end-to-end execution across multiple teams, ensuring successful delivery of complex initiatives.
  • Champion quality, operational excellence, accessibility, privacy, and security best practices.


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.
  • 10+ years of software engineering experience building and shipping large-scale products or services.
  • Solid hands-on software development experience in one or more languages such as C++, C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, or related technologies.
  • Proven track record of architecting and delivering complex systems at scale.
  • Experience designing highly performant, reliable, and maintainable software systems.
  • Demonstrated technical leadership across teams, including driving technical strategy, architecture reviews, and cross-organizational initiatives.
  • Experience using telemetry, experimentation, and data to guide engineering and product decisions.
  • Solid communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence technical direction across organizations.
  • Experience operating production systems and driving reliability, quality, and operational excellence.
  • Experience building consumer-facing experiences on Windows or other large-scale client platforms.
  • Expertise in modern web technologies, performance engineering, and client-side architecture.
  • Experience improving startup performance, responsiveness, reliability, or customer engagement metrics at scale.
  • Familiarity with experimentation platforms, recommendation systems, personalization, or AI-powered experiences.
  • History of leading cross-organizational technical initiatives and influencing decisions beyond immediate team boundaries.
  • Passion for mentoring engineers and building a culture of technical excellence.


#MicrosoftAI

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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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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