This role pays more than
57%
of similar roles. Most pay
$185,187–$231,000
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$209k
versus about
$208k
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
686 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$119,800–$234,700
across 666 roles with salary data.
The Principal Software Engineer joins the Azure Kubernetes Service team to lead the architecture and evolution of the AKS control plane. This role involves solving complex distributed-systems challenges involving Kubernetes API servers, etcd, scheduling, controllers, networking, and control-plane lifecycle management. The engineer will build systems that improve availability, performance, scalability, and security while implementing reliability engineering practices like capacity modeling, fault injection, and automated recovery. Key responsibilities include driving technical initiatives, influencing upstream Kubernetes, and mentoring engineers through implementation and production operations. Candidates should possess experience with containers, networking troubleshooting across DNS and TCP/IP, and AI-assisted development tools. The role requires proficiency in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python to support high-throughput training and inference workloads while ensuring the control plane remains resilient under demanding scale.
What does a Software Engineer earn in Remote?
Median $205300 from 346 postings across 55 companies.
Design and lead the architecture of highly available, secure, and scalable AKS control-plane systems.
Advance core Kubernetes components including the API server, etcd, and various controllers.
Improve system reliability through capacity modeling, fault injection, performance engineering, and telemetry.
Develop automated detection, mitigation, and recovery mechanisms to prevent customer-impacting incidents.
Investigate complex distributed-system failures and implement durable platform improvements based on findings.
Enhance engineering velocity by creating reusable frameworks, testing infrastructure, and deployment automation.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship while influencing upstream Kubernetes and Azure platform investments.
Integrate AI-assisted development and intelligent automation into engineering and incident response workflows.
What we're looking for
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 6+ years of experience coding in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python.
Ability to pass Microsoft Cloud Background Check and other required security screenings.
Master's Degree in Computer Science and 8+ years of engineering experience (preferred).
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and 12+ years of engineering experience (preferred).
Experience with containers and Kubernetes, including control-plane components, scheduling, controllers, networking, storage, and workload lifecycle (preferred).
Experience building and operating reliable distributed services with observability, safe deployment, automated recovery, and incident-response practices (preferred).
Experience using GitHub Copilot or other AI-assisted engineering tools in development and operational workflows (preferred).
Networking troubleshooting skills across DNS, TCP/IP, TLS, load balancing, routing, proxies, packet capture, and connection-level telemetry (preferred).
Azure
Microsoft Fabric
Azure SQL DB
Azure Cosmos DB
Azure PostgreSQL
Azure Data Factory
Azure Synapse Analytics
Azure Service Bus
Azure Event Grid
Power BI
Azure Monitor
Log Analytics
Application Insights
Prometheus
Grafana
Microsoft Sentinel
C
C++
C#
Java
JavaScript
Python
Rust
Open Telemetry
Kubernetes
Distributed Systems
Azure
Kubernetes
Infrastructure as Code
Python
C#
Java
C++
JavaScript
Distributed Systems
Microsoft 365
Telemetry
Automated Testing
AI Agents
Provisioning Workflows