Microsoft

Senior Software Engineer

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

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree AND 4+ years of experience in AI engineering, system design, or data engineering.
  • Hands-on experience designing and deploying production-grade AI/ML systems, including LLM-based or agentic systems.
  • Strong programming skills in Python for model development and data pipelines.
  • Experience in building and operating distributed systems and scalable data/ML pipelines.
  • Preferred: 8+ years in AI/ML engineering and proficiency in large-scale distributed systems.

Responsibilities

  • Design and build multi-agent AI systems leveraging LLMs and RAG pipelines to enhance customer readiness.
  • Develop machine learning models that convert large-scale enterprise signals into innovative solutions.
  • Architect scalable systems for data management, integrating various Microsoft services.
  • Implement algorithms for optimization and decision-making across AI workflows.
  • Build and maintain scalable data pipelines to support the AI lifecycle.
  • Deploy AI models into production following MLOps practices to ensure system reliability and scalability.
  • Monitor AI systems for performance and security, using telemetry for continuous improvement.

Benefits

  • Access to comprehensive healthcare plans and wellness programs.
  • Generous paid time off policies including vacation and sick days.
  • Opportunities for professional development and training.
  • Access to cutting-edge technology and resources.
  • Supportive and flexible work environment allowing for collaborative innovation.
Full Job Description
Overview

Microsoft Security (MSEC) is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to lead the development of AI-native, multi-agent systems that help customers securely adopt AI at an enterprise scale.

This role sits at the intersection of AI engineering, security, and customer readiness, bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI capabilities (LLMs, agentic systems) and real-world enterprise adoption. You will design, build, and deploy intelligent systems that transform complex signals across identity, devices, data, applications, and infrastructure into actionable intelligence, automation, and measurable outcomes.

You will operate in a highly collaborative, cross-company environment, driving end-to-end execution-from AI model development and data pipelines to production deployment, telemetry, and continuous optimization-while shaping how enterprises prepare for and securely adopt AI.

As an AI Engineer, you will bridge the gap between AI research and real-world applications, enabling automation, enhanced decision-making, reasoning, and innovation.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities (Enhanced with Modern AI Engineering Expectations)

AI Systems, Models & Platform Engineering

  • Design and build multi-agent AI systems leveraging LLMs, RAG pipelines, and vector-based retrieval systems to operationalize customer readiness across security domains.


  • Develop and productionize machine learning and deep learning models that transform large-scale, multi-source enterprise signals into contextual intelligence and automation.


  • Architect scalable systems for data ingestion, feature engineering, and model training, integrating signals across Microsoft services.


  • Implement optimization and automation algorithms for prediction, prioritization, and decision-making across AI readiness workflows.


Data, MLOps & Productionization

  • Build and operate scalable data pipelines, ETL workflows, and training infrastructure to support AI lifecycle management.


  • Deploy models into production using MLOps practices (CI/CD, model versioning, containerization) to ensure reliability, reproducibility, and scalability.


  • Monitor deployed AI systems for performance, drift, reliability, and security risks, continuously improving through telemetry and feedback loops.


  • Establish best practices for model governance, evaluation, and lifecycle management aligned with enterprise security and compliance requirements.


AI Readiness & Customer Impact

  • Define and operationalize AI readiness frameworks, metrics, and telemetry to measure adoption maturity and security posture.


  • Translate customer scenarios into deployable AI solutions, playbooks, and onboarding frameworks that enable secure AI adoption at scale.


  • Embed AI into customer workflows via APIs, services, and platform integrations, delivering end-to-end experiences.


Builder Mindset & Iteration Velocity

  • Demonstrate a strong builder mindset with a bias for action-rapidly prototyping and iterating on AI solutions, evolving them from experimentation to production-scale systems.


  • Operate in ambiguous environments, converting problem spaces into working AI systems using iterative development, experimentation, and telemetry-driven refinement.


Cross-Company Collaboration & Integration

  • Partner across Engineering, Data Science, Product, and Customer Experience teams to translate business problems into AI-driven solutions.


  • Drive integration of AI capabilities into products, services, and APIs, ensuring seamless end-to-end customer experiences.


  • Align stakeholders across a matrixed organization to deliver cohesive, platform-level solutions at enterprise scale.


Technical Leadership & Operational Excellence

  • Lead end-to-end delivery of complex AI and security initiatives, from architecture through production readiness and operational scale.


  • Build telemetry, instrumentation, and analytics to track adoption, system performance, and business impact.


  • Drive data-informed decision-making, converting system signals into actionable insights and continuous improvements.


  • Establish governance, documentation, and engineering standards to ensure maintainability, transparency, and reproducibility of AI systems.


Qualifications

Qualifications

Required

  • Bachelor's Degree AND 4+ years of experience in AI engineering, system design, or data engineering.


  • Hands-on experience designing and deploying production-grade AI/ML systems, including LLM-based or agentic systems.


  • Strong programming skills (e.g., Python) for model development, data pipelines, and system integration.


  • Experience building and operating distributed systems and scalable data/ML pipelines.


Preferred

  • 8+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering and large-scale distributed systems.


  • Deep experience with LLMs, RAG architectures, vector databases, and agentic workflows.


  • Expertise in MLOps (CI/CD for ML, model monitoring, versioning, containerization) and production deployment.


  • Strong understanding of statistics, optimization, and machine learning fundamentals.


  • Experience building enterprise-grade AI systems on cloud platforms (Azure preferred).


  • Proven ability to operate in ambiguous, cross-org environments and deliver end-to-end systems.


  • Strong communication skills to translate complex AI systems into clear business and executive insights.


  • Demonstrated leadership in AI adoption, platform building, or security domains.


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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