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Job Details
Posted date: Jan 15, 2026
Category: Hardware Engineering
Location: Redmond, WA
Estimated salary: $222,050
Range: $139,900 - $304,200
Employment type: Full-Time
Work location type: 3 days / week in-office
Role: Individual Contributor
Description
OverviewDo you want to be at the forefront of innovating the latest hardware designs to propel Microsoft’s cloud growth? Are you seeking a unique career opportunity that combines both technical capabilities, cross team collaboration, with business insight and strategy?  
 Join our Strategic Planning and Architecture (SPARC) team within Microsoft’s Azure Hardware Systems & Infrastructure (AHSI) organization and be a part of the organization behind Microsoft’s expanding Cloud Infrastructure and responsible for powering Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” mission.   
Microsoft delivers more than 200 online services to more than one billion individuals worldwide and AHSI is the team behind our expanding cloud infrastructure. We deliver the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's cloud businesses including Microsoft Azure, Bing, MSN, Office 365, OneDrive, Skype, Teams and Xbox Live.   
The SPARC organization manages Azure’s hardware roadmap from architecture concept through production for all of Microsoft’s current and future on-line services. 
We are looking for a Principal Hardware Architect to join our team!
Responsibilities
Analyze hardware architectures for AI workloads at system level and SoC level Architect large scale systems which support breakthrough performance for AI workloads to shape  Azure’s AI infrastructure roadmap Benchmark GPUs and other AI hardware, with NN models and develop kernels for micro benchmarksDevelop / enhance the inference stack architecture for optimal deployment of novel HW architectures and lead prototyping efforts to demonstrate feasibility and performanceUnderstand business critical AI workloads/applications  Drive NN model/HW codesign 
Qualifications
Required/minimum qualifications
Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 7+ years technical engineering experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience.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.
Preferred Qualifications:
15+ years of experience developing/architecting high end AI AcceleratorsUnderstanding of large language models, training and inferenceKnowledge of commonly used AI and HPC workloads and how they are mapped onto large scale systems Expertise in python programming and SW engineeringCollaborative mindsetHands on experience with frameworks such as Pytorch/Tensorflow/TensorRT Deep knowledge of CNN/transformer architecture and optimization strategies – quantization, sparsity, sharding, KV Cache, Flash Attention Knowledge of inference stacks, like sglangKnowledge in developing kernels for AI accelerators / GPUsProgramming skills in Python/C/C++ 
Hardware Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $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.
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.
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