Microsoft

Senior Software Engineer

Microsoft$119K — $234K *
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field plus 4+ years of coding experience in C, C++, C#, or Python
  • Deep Windows expertise in debugging, system/kernel internals, and driver development
  • Experience in productizing and shipping test collateral for execution by others
  • Experience building test automation infrastructure including orchestration and result aggregation
  • Hands-on experience with generative AI models in software development

Responsibilities

  • Design and operate a packaged test product, overseeing the complete lifecycle from shipping to reporting
  • Build and enhance Windows test automation infrastructure that scales efficiently
  • Diagnose failures through in-depth Windows debugging and system internals analysis
  • Collaborate with data specialists to develop telemetry and logging that provide actionable insights
  • Lead the integration of AI in engineering practices and productivity improvements
  • Design automation solutions with a focus on security, reliability, and extensibility
  • Mentor junior engineers in engineering best practices and improve code quality

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health insurance options
  • Retirement savings plans with company matching
  • Generous paid time off policy
  • Opportunities for professional development and career advancement
  • Work-life balance initiatives
Full Job Description
Overview

Join the Windows Ecosystem & Commercial Engagement (WECE) Quality, Reliability, and Telemetry (QRT) team and help reinvent how Windows is tested, validated, and proven across the broader hardware ecosystem. Our charter is to ensure Windows builds and updates land safely, predictably, and at scale-across a growing set of third-party (OEM, silicon, and partner) hardware and software configurations.

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to test automation and deep Windows platform quality. You will be responsible for the engineering behind a packaged, productized test suite-test collateral that we ship, execute, and report on-so that both Microsoft labs and third-party partners can validate Windows on their hardware with the same rigor we apply internally. You will go deep on Windows debugging, system internals, and drivers, and build the common test automation infrastructure that makes large-scale, repeatable validation possible.

Equally important, you will partner closely with data engineering, data science, and data analysts to design the telemetry, logging, and tracing that turns a failing test run into an actionable, root-caused issue. And you will be expected to be well ahead of the curve in applying Agentic and Bot AI concepts/solutions and acceleration through agentic/mcp solutions-across your designs, your development, your process, your test coverage and performance, and your personal productivity.

You will design, build, and productize the automation and tooling that powers end-to-end Windows validation across the 3P ecosystem, including:
  • A productized, packaged test product-test collateral that ships to internal labs and third-party partners, runs reliably in their environment, and reports results back in a consistent, comparable form.
  • Common Windows test automation infrastructure: harnesses, runners, scheduling, device/lab orchestration, and result aggregation that scale across diverse hardware, silicon, firmware, drivers, and software stacks.
  • Deep diagnostics for the hard problems: Windows debugging, kernel/system internals, and driver-level investigation to triage and root-cause failures surfaced during test runs.
  • Telemetry, logging, and tracing pipelines-designed hand-in-hand with data engineering and data science-that complement test failures with the signal needed to explain and fix them.
  • AI-assisted automation and orchestration that reduces manual effort, expands coverage, and shortens feedback loops across validation rings.

This role is less about shipping a single feature and more about building a durable, productized validation capability that other teams and partners rely on every day.
  • We optimize for early signal, clear ownership, and fast learning.
  • We build tools and test products that reduce friction for partners, not add process.
  • We expect senior engineers to own problems end-to-end, from design through live operation and reporting.
  • We are AI-forward: acceleration is part of how we engineer, test, and operate-not an afterthought.
  • We value pragmatic engineering: simple where possible, robust where required.

Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and operate a packaged test product-own the lifecycle of shipping test collateral, executing it across labs and partners, and reporting results in a consistent, decision-ready form.
  • Build and evolve common Windows test automation infrastructure (harnesses, runners, orchestration, result pipelines) that scales across hardware, firmware, drivers, and OS configurations.
  • Go deep on Windows debugging, system internals, and drivers to diagnose failures quickly and drive mitigations to closure.
  • Partner with data engineering, data scientists, and data analysts to formulate the telemetry, logging, and tracing that complements issues found during test runs-turning raw failures into root-caused, trackable signal.
  • Lead the adoption of AI and acceleration across the team: in development, process, test coverage and performance, and personal productivity-setting the standard for what an AI-forward engineer looks like.
  • Design with security and reliability in mind: address vulnerabilities while building resilient, extensible, and defensible automation and architecture.
  • Partner across WSSI, WSD, WECE, Windows engineering, and internal Selfhost programs to align on requirements, integration points, and reporting standards.
  • Mentor and guide early in career engineers, raising the bar for code quality, operational maturity, test rigor, and ownership.
  • Contribute to quarterly planning by shaping the roadmap for productized test collateral, automation infrastructure, and ecosystem readiness.


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#, or Python
    • OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Deep Windows expertise: debugging, system/kernel internals, and driver development or driver-level diagnostics.
  • Experience productizing and shipping a packaged test product or test collateral-designing it to be executed by others (labs or third parties) and to report results in a consistent, comparable way.
  • Experience building common test automation infrastructure: harnesses, runners, device/lab orchestration, and result aggregation at scale.
  • Recent, hands-on adoption of the latest generative AI models and agents-applied to development, testing coverage and performance, process, and personal productivity.
  • Operating system fundamentals and deployment-technology background.
  • Excellent verbal, written, and cross-group collaboration and communication.
  • Demonstrated focus on meeting customer needs; contributing to team culture; and a track record of learning and growing.

#Windows

Software Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 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 - $261,000 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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