Principal Software Engineer

Imagine being at the forefront of transformative cloud technology. The Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) team is pioneering the management of Kubernetes clusters at hyperscale—building efficient, safe, and scalable tools to manage millions of servers that power AKS.

As a Principal Software Engineer on the AKS Platform Infrastructure team, you’ll dive deep into automated infrastructure management and server orchestration at a scale few companies ever reach. You’ll be responsible for building and maintaining the compute infrastructure that powers AKS, enabling it to be the most performant and reliable managed Kubernetes service in the world.

This is a unique opportunity to accelerate your career, develop deep cloud infrastructure expertise, and shape the future of hyperscale Kubernetes.

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.

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 Go, Bash, Rust, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python 
  • OR equivalent experience.  
• Experience with Linux or similar Unix-like environments used on servers (e.g. BSD)
  • OR experience with containers, Kubernetes or other Cloud Native technologies
  • OR experience with Azure cloud management and concepts.

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: 

• Experience with ci/cd tools and processes, for example, but not limited to Azure DevOps, GitHub or GitLab.
• Experience collaborating, building, and maintaining medium and large programs that are actively developed by many other engineers.
• Curious, open-minded, analytical approach to solving problems and a powerful desire to collaborate with other engineers on the team to deliver solutions to challenging problems.

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

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until June 23, 2025.

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• Create and maintain tools that manage hundreds of thousands of virtual machines powering Azure Kubernetes Service.
• Expand AKS’s global footprint by automating buildouts in new regions and sovereign clouds.
• Coordinate region-agnostic buildout architecture, design, and execution across multiple AKS and Azure teams.
• Automate the build and release stack to enable engineers to manage dozens of microservices safely, efficiently, and in compliance with standards.
• Build tools, automation, and safety mechanisms to prevent infrastructure problems from becoming production incidents.
• Act as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI), participating in on-call rotations to monitor system health and restore services during incidents.
• Balance pragmatism with vision and creativity; deliver continuous improvements to the team’s process and codebase.
• Collaborate across teams to deliver scalable, resilient, and secure infrastructure solutions.
• Embody our culture and values.