Principal Software Engineer, Distributed Systems

Quick Facts

• Role: Principal Software Engineer, Distributed Systems

Description

Design, build, and operationalize hyperscale distributed systems that power Microsoft’s content and media experiences, including ingestion, processing, transformation, and delivery. You will own systems end to end—from platform architecture and processing pipelines through orchestration and serving layers—while ensuring reliable, efficient operation at scale. You will partner with cross-functional teams to translate requirements into technical specifications and drive continuous improvements in performance and reliability.

Responsibilities

• Own the design and development of distributed software systems that are reliable, scalable, and performant.
• Collaborate with engineers and product/cross-functional partners to deliver features and improvements.
• Write high-quality, maintainable, and testable code; participate in code reviews; help resolve production issues.
• Translate business requirements into technical specifications and deliver solutions aligned to business goals.
• Design scalable APIs, data pipelines, and feature/signal stores for secure, efficient data flow between ML systems and product surfaces.
• Drive live-site excellence via instrumentation, monitoring, capacity planning, and incident response.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (or related field) AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with distributed systems and/or backend services; coding experience in C/C++/C#/Java/JavaScript/Python.
• Ability to pass required security screening, including the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years.

Benefits

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation; pay ranges vary by location.