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Job Details
Posted date: Jan 28, 2026
There have been 2434 jobs posted with the title of Principal Software Engineer all time at Microsoft.There have been 2434 Principal Software Engineer jobs posted in the last month.
Category: Software 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
OverviewWe are seeking a Principal Software Engineer (Level 65) to lead the design, development, and operation of large‑scale Office web and cloud services. This role focuses on backend and service‑oriented systems that power Microsoft 365 experiences at global scale. The ideal candidate is a senior individual contributor with deep expertise in distributed systems, service reliability, and cloud architecture, operating with broad influence across multiple engineering teams. 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.
Responsibilities
Lead the architecture, design, and implementation of highly available, scalable Office web services and service platforms.Own end‑to‑end technical responsibility for critical service components, including APIs, data flows, and backend processing pipelines.Drive service fundamentals: reliability, availability, performance, scalability, security, privacy, and compliance.Partner closely with Product Management, dependent service teams, and platform partners (e.g., identity, storage, telemetry) to deliver cohesive service experiences.Identify and resolve complex, ambiguous technical problems affecting live production systems.Establish and evolve engineering best practices for service design, operational readiness, and incident response.Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership through design reviews, architecture guidance, and operational rigor.
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 PythonOR 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:
Experience building Office / Microsoft 365 backend services (e.g., collaboration, storage, identity‑adjacent, or metadata services).Deep knowledge of cloud platforms (Azure), service deployment, and CI/CD pipelines.Experience with high‑throughput, low‑latency services and large‑scale data processing.Background in operational excellence, including on‑call ownership and post‑incident analysis.Ability to influence service architecture beyond a single team while remaining hands‑on.6+ years of professional software engineering experienceExpertise in distributed systems, backend services, and API‑driven architectures.Proven experience designing, building, and operating production cloud services at scale.Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical initiatives across multiple teams.Experience owning live service health, including monitoring, diagnostics, and incident mitigation.#OfficeCollabServices
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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