Principal Software Engineer (Pro-Code Server Engineering)

Quick Facts

• Role: Principal Software Engineer (Pro-Code Server Engineering)

• Focus: Hands-on pro-code leadership for AI-enabled server platforms; modernize legacy codebases

Description

You will raise the bar for how software is built across engineering by staying deeply hands-on and leading critical production work on AI-enabled platforms. The role includes mentoring engineers, defining pro-code standards and golden paths, and building tools and prototypes to solve hard modernization and AI integration challenges. You will be accountable for durable architecture and production quality across security, privacy, accessibility, and Responsible AI.

Responsibilities

• Pro-code leadership: write and review critical production code; debug complex failures; model pro-code craftsmanship

• Mentoring: improve design, code quality, testing, debugging, secure coding, performance, and AI-assisted development through reviews, pairing, talks, and communities

• Standards: define and drive adoption of coding conventions, review practices, test automation, CI/CD, observability, secure/Responsible AI development, and AI-assisted coding; measure adoption and impact

• Legacy understanding: understand historical architecture, compatibility needs, undocumented dependencies, and operational constraints

• Modernization approaches: establish repeatable modernization patterns (architectural seams/strangler patterns, characterization tests, incremental refactoring, dependency untangling, managed migrations)

• Tooling: create tooling, automation, templates, analyzers, and AI-assisted agents/skills to speed comprehension, test generation, refactoring, review, and release

• Prototyping: prototype novel architectures, scale/performance limits, AI integration patterns, and modernization strategies; de-risk for delivery teams

• Production engineering: build scalable, resilient, secure, cost-effective services/APIs/orchestration layers; diagnose cross-system issues; implement safe deployment, monitoring, rollback/recovery, and end-to-end testing

• Use telemetry and incident learnings to improve engineering effectiveness and quality indicators

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in C/C++/C#/Java/JavaScript/Python (or equivalent experience)

• Must pass required security screening, including the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years

• Microsoft cannot sponsor a work visa for this role

• Demonstrated recent, substantial hands-on production software development experience

• Proven experience modernizing large, mature, or legacy codebases without disrupting customers

Benefits

• Competitive base pay (typical U.S. range: USD $142,800–$274,800/year; Bay Area/San Francisco and NYC metro: USD $188,000–$304,200/year)

• Eligibility for benefits and other compensation (see corporate pay information)

• Position open for a minimum of 5 days with ongoing application acceptance until filled