This role pays more than
63%
of similar roles. Most pay
$169,550–$231,000
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$209k
versus about
$200k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
Employer
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is a global technology leader producing software, hardware, and cloud services including Windows, Office 365, Azure cloud platform, Xbox gaming, and Surface devices. Industry: Software & Cloud Computing
Microsoft currently has
598 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$119,800–$234,700
across 586 roles with salary data.
As a Principal Software Engineer on the AI Experiences, Copilot Engineering team, you will work at the intersection of distributed systems, artificial intelligence, and agent-driven development. You will design and develop next-generation products, features, and secure, performant platform services for Copilot experiences across Windows, Mac, and mobile devices. Your daily work involves building systems that can reason, plan, and execute tasks to power agentic computing. To succeed, you must be proficient in coding languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python. You will also leverage modern AI coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, or GitHub Copilot to drive engineering velocity. The role focuses on the technical challenge of creating robust backends to interface with models and designing intelligent prompts to transform how users interact with their personal computers through automated workflows.
What does a Software Engineer earn in Washington?
Median $202800 from 326 postings across 28 companies.
Design and develop next-generation features for Copilot experiences across Windows, Mac, and mobile platforms.
Build secure and performant platform services to support Copilot functionality on multiple devices.
Develop systems that can reason, plan, and execute tasks using distributed systems and agentic workflows.
Write high-quality, well-tested, secure, and maintainable code for consumer-scale services.
Define best practices for prompt design, tool usage, and human-in-the-loop systems.
Drive the adoption of AI coding agents to improve engineering velocity and code quality.
Deliver work quickly and iteratively within a fast-paced, design-driven product development cycle.
What we're looking for
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 6+ years of engineering experience in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python.
Master's Degree in Computer Science or related field and 12+ years of engineering experience (preferred).
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field and 15+ years of engineering experience (preferred).
Extensive hands-on experience using modern AI coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, or similar tools (preferred).
Track record as a team expert for AI-assisted/agentic development workflows (preferred).
Experience driving adoption of agentic coding tools to improve engineering velocity and code quality (preferred).
Experience defining best practices for prompt design, tool usage, and human-in-the-loop systems (preferred).