Microsoft

Senior Software Engineer - Backend

Microsoft$114K — $203K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python.
  • Master's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience, or equivalent.
  • Experience with high-throughput production systems where scalability and latency are critical.
  • Ability to design and maintain complex systems over time.
  • Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver business-aligned solutions.
  • Problem-solving skills for performance or reliability issues in production environments.
  • Familiarity with real-time bidding systems or high-frequency decision systems.

Responsibilities

  • Own technical direction for a high-scale, latency-sensitive real-time bidding service.
  • Lead design and implementation of scalable backend systems under strict requirements.
  • Drive modernization for critical services, improving code quality and operational safety.
  • Ensure performance and stability as traffic and business grow.
  • Define and evolve observability and experimentation capabilities for data-driven decisions.
  • Collaborate with engineering, data science, and product teams to align solutions with goals.
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship across teams.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to impact a company-level initiative within Microsoft Ads.
  • Work in a dynamic environment with cross-functional collaboration.
  • Be part of the core team modernizing a critical platform.
  • Exposure to cutting-edge technologies in the ad tech industry.
Full Job Description
Overview

At the core of Microsoft Ads is a mission-critical, high-throughput real-time bidding (RTB) platform. It processes millions of auction requests per second, executes complex auction logic under strict latency constraints, and directly impacts revenue, win rate, partner satisfaction, and platform reliability.

This role owns core architectural and technical evolution of the platform, focusing on modernization, performance, scalability, experimentation infrastructure, and operational excellence. The position requires deep expertise in low-latency distributed systems, solid leadership in large-scale refactoring and platform modernization, and close collaboration across engineering, data science, experimentation, and business stakeholders.

The engineer in this role drives initiatives with company-level impact, ensuring our platform can continue to scale, evolve, and support future Microsoft Ads growth.

Starting January 26, 2026, Microsoft AI (MAI) employees who live within a 50- mile commute of a designated Microsoft office in the U.S. or 25-mile commute of a non-U.S., country-specific location are expected to work from the office at least four days per week. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction.

Responsibilities
  • Own technical direction and execution for core components, a high-scale, latency-sensitive real-time bidding service at the heart of Microsoft Ads.
  • Lead design and implementation of scalable, high-performance backend systems operating under strict latency and reliability requirements.
  • Drive platform modernization and long-term sustainability of critical services, improving code quality, maintainability, and operational safety.
  • Ensure performance, scalability, and stability of the service as traffic, data volume, and business requirements continue to grow.
  • Define and evolve instrumentation, observability, and experimentation capabilities to support data-driven decision making and safe production changes.
  • Collaborate closely with cross-functional partners (engineering, data science, experimentation, product, and infrastructure) to align technical solutions with business goals.
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship, influencing architecture decisions and engineering best practices across teams.


Qualifications

Required Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 4+ 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 6+ 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 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
    • OR equivalent experience.
  • Experience working on high-throughput, production systems where scalability, latency, and stability are critical.
  • Demonstrated ability to design, evolve, and maintain complex systems over time.
  • Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver solutions aligned with business needs.
  • Problem-solving skills and ability to analyze and address performance or reliability issues in production environments.
  • Experience with real-time bidding systems, ad tech, or high-frequency decision systems.
  • Familiarity with experimentation platforms, A/B testing, or traffic shaping systems.
  • Experience working with ML-driven decision systems or integrating models into production pipelines.
  • Exposure to large-scale data processing or feature pipelines.
  • Experience with cloud environments and modern deployment practices.


#MicrosoftAI

Software Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across Canada is CAD $114,400.00 - CAD $203,900.00 per year.

Find additional pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/canada-pay-information.html

Software Engineering IC4 - L'échelle salariale de base typique pour ce rôle dans l'ensemble du Canada est de 114,400.00 $ CAD à 203,900.00 $ CAD par année.

Pour plus d'information au sujet de la rémunération, veuillez cliquer ici:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/canada-pay-information.html

Ce poste sera ouvert pendant au moins cinq jours et les candidatures seront acceptées de façon continue jusqu'à ce que le poste soit pourvu.

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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