Software Engineer II

The Azure Container Networking group is reimagining how hyperscale orchestrators—Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Container Apps (ACA), serverless platforms, and tomorrow’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) native runtimes—connect, protect, and observe billions of containers in real time. Our charter is to deliver lightning-fast networking foundations that empower critical enterprise customers to innovate with confidence while meeting the unprecedented demands of largescale AI workloads.

As a Software Engineer II, you will play a pivotal role in architecting, developing, and advancing next-generation frameworks supporting connectivity, observability, and security for distributed container environments at hyperscale. Your responsibilities will include designing and optimizing both dataplane and controlplane services—leveraging high-performance eBPF-based datapaths and integrating cloud Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with industry-leading open-source projects such as Cilium and Retina. You will spearhead efforts to build and evolve AI-driven platforms that ingest and analyze telemetry data, driving innovations in network troubleshooting, optimization, and advanced security. Your contributions will enable intelligent orchestration at cloud scale, and you will collaborate cross-functionally to elevate infrastructure reliability, scalability, and performance for mission-critical enterprise workloads.

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 2+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Go  or Python.
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 1+ years of experience with Kubernetes, including hands-on configuration and deployment of containerized applications in production environments.

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:            

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
  • OR related technical field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Go OR Python
  • OR Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 2+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Go or Python.
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Active participation or contributions within open-source software (OSS) communities, especially those focused on cloud-native networking or container orchestration.
• Demonstrated technical depth in designing and implementing distributed systems, with proficiency in troubleshooting and optimizing complex networking solutions.
• Builder mindset—passion for developing robust, scalable infrastructure, an ability to collaborate across diverse teams, driving technical discussions and mentoring peers in industry standard practices for container networking and cloud-native platforms.

Software Engineering IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $100,600 - $199,000 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 $131,400 - $215,400 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 until September 24, 2025.

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• Collaborates with key stakeholders, including platform architects and service owners, to determine user requirements for features underpinning secure, scalable container networking within Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Container Apps (ACA), and emerging AI native runtimes.
• Contributes to the identification of technical dependencies and authors design documents for distributed networking frameworks, leveraging advanced technologies such as Extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF), cloud APIs, and open-source integrations (e.g., Cilium, Retina), with minimal oversight.
• Designs, develops, and implements robust code for Azure Container Networking products and features, promoting code reusability and adherence to industry best practices for high-performance, multi-tenant environments.
• Participates in breaking down complex networking and telemetry ingestion initiatives into smaller, manageable work items, providing accurate estimations and technical guidance to the team.
• Acts as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI), serving on-call to proactively monitor and respond to system, service, or feature degradation, downtime, or interruptions, and coordinates with the relevant teams to restore critical networking infrastructure for straightforward issues.
• Remains current in cloud-native networking, container orchestration, and observability technologies by investing in ongoing learning. Drives improvements in availability, reliability, efficiency, and performance for Azure Container Networking solutions, and champions consistent monitoring and operational practices at hyperscale.