below marketmost similar roles pay hereabove market
This role pays more than
68%
of similar roles. Most pay
$169,550–$220,800
— the blue band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$209k
versus about
$195k
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
694 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$119,800–$234,700
across 651 roles with salary data.
The Principal Software Engineer will join the team at Microsoft Bing to lead the design and development of the Search & AI Platform. This role involves architecting and implementing scalable distributed systems that underpin web-index serving, big data processing, AI inference, and LLM grounding. You will build a new generative search engine utilizing heterogeneous hardware, hybrid retrieval, and agentic workflows while optimizing data access patterns, compute workflows, and storage strategies. Key responsibilities include innovating modern search retrieval systems with vector index engines and mentoring a high-performing engineering team. Required technical skills include proficiency in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python. Candidates should possess expertise in indexing technology, end-to-end search stacks, and performance optimization within large-scale processing environments to solve complex production-grade infrastructure problems.
What does a Software Engineer earn?
Median $197400 from 2576 postings across 150 companies.
Architect and implement scalable distributed systems for the Search & AI platform.
Develop and scale high-performance distributed services to ensure system robustness and reliability.
Innovate the search retrieval system using cutting-edge vector index engines.
Lead the technical vision for building autonomous generative search within large-scale infrastructure.
Optimize data access patterns, compute workflows, and storage strategies to meet rigorous SLA requirements.
Translate AI research advances into production-grade systems and actionable designs.
Mentor and grow a high-performing engineering team focused on long-term platform evolution.
What we're looking for
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 6+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python (or equivalent).
Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 8+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python (preferred).
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 12+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python (preferred).
3+ years of technical leadership experience designing, coding, debugging, and delivering large projects.
Hands-on experience in indexing technology and the end-to-end search stack.
Proven track record in designing and deploying scalable, distributed systems.
Expertise in Approximate-nearest-neighbor search (preferred).
Expertise in performance optimization and system architecture within large-scale processing environments (preferred).