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Job Details
Posted date: Mar 16, 2026
There have been 196 jobs posted with the title of Principal Software Engineering Manager all time at Microsoft.There have been 196 Principal Software Engineering Manager 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: People Manager
Description
OverviewWe are looking to expand our Team with a Principal Software Engineering Manager to lead a team that enables the success of Microsoft solutions for our Commercial & Enterprise customers.
In this role, you will be responsible for leading and growing a team of Software Engineers who solve complex, high‑impact technical problems across Windows client, Windows Update, and Windows Reliability. You will set technical direction, ensure operational excellence, and drive high‑quality customer outcomes while maintaining strong engineering fundamentals and customer trust.
As Principal Software Engineering Manager, you will balance people leadership, technical depth, and business impact. You will coach and develop engineers through regular 1:1s, career planning, and feedback; foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement; and lead your team through incident response, live‑site issues, and customer escalations. You will partner closely with Product Managers and Feature teams across Windows to influence product quality, reliability, and supportability at scale.
Our team leverages deep diagnostic expertise, telemetry, and real‑world customer signals to improve the functionality, performance, and reliability of Windows. Your team will work directly with the engineers who design and build Windows, using advanced diagnostic tools and rich data to drive durable fixes and systemic improvements.
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 live our values of respect, integrity, and accountability, and we are committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.
This position will require you to work on occasion, a rotational on-call schedule during holidays, evenings, and weekends.
Responsibilities
This role will be responsible for leading teams that design, build, and operate scalable software solutions that improve the reliability, performance, and customer experience of Windows. As a Software Engineering Manager, you are accountable for people leadership, technical direction, and delivery outcomes across your team.
In this role, you are expected to:
Lead, coach, and develop a team of Software Engineers, providing clear expectations, regular feedback, career guidance, and growth opportunities through 1:1s, mentoring, and performance management.Set technical direction and execution strategy for your team by partnering with Product Managers and cross‑functional stakeholders to translate customer needs and business priorities into clear engineering plans.Drive operational excellence and delivery accountability, ensuring high‑quality execution through strong engineering fundamentals, effective planning, and disciplined incident response.Leverage customer signals, telemetry, and product usage data to identify systemic issues, prioritize investments, and guide your team toward durable improvements in Windows reliability, performance, and supportability.Ensure engineering quality and reliability by establishing best practices for design reviews, code reviews, testing, and continuous integration, and by holding the team accountable for secure, maintainable, and scalable solutions.Provide technical leadership and escalation support, guiding engineers through complex debugging scenarios using diagnostic tools, performance profilers, and source code analysis, and representing your team in cross‑org technical discussions.Foster a customer‑focused and inclusive team culture, where engineers understand customer impact, collaborate effectively across teams, and take ownership of outcomes that matter to enterprise and commercial customers.
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 Qualification:
4+ years people management experience.8+ years of experience in software engineering, systems engineering, or Windows client/server environments, including hands‑on technical work with Windows‑based platforms.3+ years of experience leading or mentoring engineers, including people management responsibilities such as coaching, performance feedback, career development, hiring, or technical leadership across teams.Demonstrated experience in customer‑facing engineering roles, such as site reliability engineering, service engineering, or support engineering, with accountability for customer impact, service health, and escalation management.Proficient troubleshooting and diagnostic expertise, including data and log analysis using tools such as Perfmon, XPerf, ETL/ETW, or equivalent telemetry and diagnostics frameworks.Deep understanding of Windows authentication and security fundamentals, including LSASS functionality, Kerberos protocol, and modern cloud authentication mechanisms.Hands‑on experience with Entra ID (client‑side) and hybrid identity and authentication scenarios, bridging on‑premises Active Directory and Entra ID in enterprise environments.Proven ability to translate complex technical issues into clear direction and decisions, influencing cross‑functional partners and driving alignment across engineering, product, and support teams.Proficient technical depth and learning mindset across Microsoft platforms, with the ability to guide teams working on Windows, M365, identity, and device‑centric technologies, even when the manager is not the primary code contributor.Demonstrated ability to read, reason about, and review complex codebases (C/C++ / C#), and to lead source‑level investigations and architectural discussions in partnership with senior engineers.Working knowledge of scripting and automation technologies (e.g., PowerShell, VBScript), with the ability to promote operational efficiency, diagnostic automation, and repeatable engineering practices across the team.Familiarity with modern device and identity management ecosystems, including Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Entra, and enterprise device management scenarios, sufficient to guide technical decisions and cross‑team collaboration.Understanding of networking fundamentals and distributed systems, with experience diagnosing and resolving issues across networking protocols, infrastructure components, and cloud‑based services in enterprise environments.Ability to scale impact through others, influencing technical direction, raising engineering quality, and aligning teams around customer outcomes rather than individual contributions.
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Software Engineering M5 - 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.