Job Details
Posted date: Nov 20, 2025
There have been 1947 jobs posted with the title of Principal Software Engineer all time at Microsoft.There have been 1947 Principal Software Engineer jobs posted in the last month.
Category: Software Engineering
Location: Multiple Locations, Multiple Locations
Estimated salary: $222,050
Range: $139,900 - $304,200
Employment type: Full-Time
Work location type: 0 days / week in-office – remote
Role: Individual Contributor
Description
OverviewMicrosoft Azure is in the race to win it. The Azure Networking team is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead the evolution of Hybrid connectivity services to provide next-generation connectivity experience for Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads at cloud scale. At the core of these services is a solid Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) infrastructure that we continuously innovate to improve agility, reliability and cost effectiveness of our services.
We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer with deep Level 2 (L2) - Level 4 (L4) expertise to design, build and operate this service at hyper-scale. Our team is looking for experienced software engineers who are searching for a challenge to design, implement and operate large-scale distributed systems in an agile environment. This role offers you a unique opportunity to accelerate your career growth, develop a deep understanding of cloud technology.
The developer will participate in architecture, design of various components and ensure a timely execution of the features with high quality. The developer will own the component end-to-end, including testing, managing cross team dependencies as well as monitoring and alerting for the deployed component. The position will involve extensive internal and external collaborations with other Azure/Microsoft teams as well as networking vendors. Our team is interested in talent that has experience in open-source contributions.
Our culture promotes diversity and inclusion and is clearly reflected in all the things we do. Diversity is more than a commitment for us - it is the foundation of what we do. This is a high visibility position in an area of large and expanding investment for Azure and offers a terrific opportunity to innovate, influence, transform, and grow. We encourage you to apply to learn more!
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees, we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. #azurecore
Responsibilities
Works with appropriate stakeholders to determine user requirements for a set of features. Contributes to the identification of dependencies, and the development of design documents for a product area with little oversight. Creates and implements code for a product, service, or feature, reusing code as applicable. Contributes efforts to break down larger work items into smaller work items and provides estimation. Acts as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) working on-call to monitor system/product feature/service for degradation, downtime, or interruptions and gain approval to restore system/product/service for simple problems. Remains current in skills by investing time and effort into staying abreast of current developments that will improve the availability, reliability, efficiency, observability, and performance of products while also driving consistency in monitoring and operations at scale.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor'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 equivalent experience. Other Qualifications:
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:
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science - OR related technical field AND 10+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Golang, Rust, C++, C#, Java or PythonOR Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Golang, Rust, C++, C#, Java or PythonOR equivalent experience.6+ years of experience in one or more of the following areas:
Networking: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transport Layer Security (TLS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Hypertext Transfer Protocol/Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTP/HTTPS), Virtual Extensible Lan (VXLAN), Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)Distributed SystemsLinux/Unix/Windows systems programming, performance optimization Virtualization: hypervisors; Virtual Machine (VM) switching, containersDesigning and running large-scale fault-tolerant infrastructure servicesLarge scale telemetry gathering and analysisNetwork packet capture analysis and debuggingProficient Design & Programming skills Experience in Google Remote Procedure Calls (gRPC), Linux/Unix systems Knowledge of Azure Networking stack or similar cloud platforms: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP).Experience with workloads involving AI/Machine Learning (ML) inference, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) clusters, or High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems. Development experience with Sonic Network Operating system.
Software 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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