Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft

Confirmed live yesterday High trust

Remote

Quick summary

Work type: Remote
Location: Remote
Salary: $142,800–$274,800 / yr
Posted: 9 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live yesterday
Closes: Mar 29, 2027

Market check

Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $200k

This role $209k

$127k $291k

below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays more than 63% of similar roles. Most pay $174,600–$225,500 — the blue 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 585 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $119,800–$234,700 across 561 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Software Engineer

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As a Principal Software Engineer on the Azure Kubernetes Service team, you will lead the architecture and delivery of cloud infrastructure capabilities specifically designed to support artificial intelligence workloads. You will partner with customers and engineering teams to translate complex requirements into coordinated plans while remaining hands-on in implementation, testing, deployment, and live-site improvements. Your daily work involves owning distributed-system components, evaluating trade-offs regarding security, reliability, scalability, and performance, and leading the automation of operational processes. You will also mentor engineers, review code, and improve service observability to ensure high quality for cloud-native applications at scale. The role requires proficiency in programming languages such as C++, C#, Go, or Java, along with experience operating production Kubernetes-based services to solve complex infrastructure challenges within the managed Kubernetes service domain.

What does a Software Engineer earn in Remote?

Median $208800 from 319 postings across 50 companies.

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Skills

Kubernetes Azure AKS C++ C# Go Java Distributed Systems Cloud Infrastructure Security Testing Observability Software Development Lifecycle

What you'll do

Translate customer requirements into coordinated engineering plans for AI workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service.
Lead architecture for complex distributed systems while balancing security, reliability, scalability, and performance trade-offs.
Perform hands-on development of maintainable, secure, and performant software across the product lifecycle.
Define test strategies and mentor engineers in automated and security testing to prevent regressions.
Automate deployment and operational processes while establishing safe rollout and rollback practices.
Improve service observability and lead investigations into complex production issues during on-call rotations.
Review complex designs and code while mentoring engineers across multiple teams.

What we're looking for

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 6+ years of experience coding in C++, C#, Go, or Java (or equivalent).
Ability to pass Microsoft Cloud Background Check and other required security screenings.
Master's Degree in Computer Science or related field and 8+ years of engineering experience in C++, C#, Go, or Java (preferred).
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field and 12+ years of engineering experience in C++, C#, Go, or Java (preferred).
3+ years of experience developing or operating production Kubernetes-based services (preferred).
2+ years of experience leading delivery of a production cloud service or infrastructure feature across multiple engineering teams (preferred).

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