OverviewOur team is at the forefront of transforming digital advertising through intelligent automation and large-scale optimization. We design and build the bidding platform that powers real-time ad auctions across Microsoft's marketplaces - leveraging cutting-edge AI, machine learning, and large-scale distributed systems to bid on behalf of millions of advertisers.
Our systems process billions of auction events daily, optimizing bids in milliseconds to maximize performance and return on ad spend. Engineers and scientists work hand-in-hand, blending algorithmic innovation, reinforcement learning, and large-scale data pipelines to create the intelligence that drives Microsoft Advertising's success.
We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer who thrives at the intersection of AI systems, real-time decision-making, and scalable cloud infrastructure. You'll help shape the next generation of our agentic bidding platform - one that learns, adapts, and optimizes autonomously. Your work will directly influence advertiser ROI and drive billions of dollars in revenue across Bing, MSN, and the Microsoft ecosystem.
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- Collaborate with data scientists, ML engineers, and product teams to define requirements for agentic AI-driven bidding capabilities that observe, reason, and adapt autonomously.
- Architect and implement the next-generation agentic bidding platform, enabling AI agents to monitor marketplace signals, interpret advertiser and user behavior, and continuously optimize bidding strategies.
- Build large-scale data validation and quality frameworks to ensure correctness, consistency, and reliability across all auction-critical signals feeding the AI agents.
- Act as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI): drive operational excellence, incident management, on-call readiness, and high-availability practices for mission-critical bidding services.
- Develop experimentation and simulation frameworks to validate agent behavior and optimize policies before deployment in live auctions.
- Proactively adopt new patterns, technologies, and engineering practices to improve availability, efficiency, performance, and scalability across the bidding stack.
- Set technical direction, mentor engineers, and foster a culture of high-quality execution, innovation, and accountability.
- Explore and invest in emerging AI techniques - multi-agent systems, adaptive optimization - to enhance the autonomy, intelligence, and impact of the bidding platform.
QualificationsRequired 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 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
- OR equivalent experience.
- 4+ years of hands-on experience with large-scale streaming platforms such as Apache Spark or Flink.
- 4+ years of experience as a technical lead, including mentoring and guiding engineers.
- 7+ years of experience developing and deploying large-scale distributed systems in production environments.
- 7+ years of hands-on experience in machine learning operations (MLOps), including pipeline automation, monitoring, and lifecycle management.
- Domain knowledge and experience building large scale distributed bidding or auction platforms.
- Experience building real world applications using AI techniques.
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.
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Software Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800.00 - $234,700.00 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 $160,200.00 - $261,000.00 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.
