Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft

Confirmed live today High trust

Hybrid

Quick summary

Work type: Hybrid
Location: —
Salary: $165,600–$296,400 / yr
Posted: 10 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live today
Closes: Apr 14, 2027

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $195k

This role $231k

$124k $315k

below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays more than 83% of similar roles. Most pay $169,550–$220,800 — the blue band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $231k 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.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Software Engineer

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The Principal Software Engineer joins the Data Factory team within the Azure Data databases group to build and operate data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration services. This role involves defining technical visions, making critical architecture decisions, and leading cross-team engineering initiatives to deliver high-quality, secure, and cost-efficient services at scale. The engineer will design, build, and review scalable systems while resolving complex technical issues and mentoring other engineers. Key technical requirements include expertise in distributed systems, cloud computing, system architecture, performance, and reliability engineering. Candidates should demonstrate proficiency in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, and Go, alongside experience with Azure technologies. The work focuses on providing mission-critical, AI-enabled operational databases across relational, non-relational, and open-source offerings.

What does a Software Engineer earn?

Median $197400 from 2576 postings across 150 companies.

See salary data

Skills

Azure C# Java Python Go C++ C JavaScript Azure SQL DB Azure Cosmos DB Azure PostgreSQL Azure Data Factory Azure Synapse Analytics Azure Service Bus Azure Event Grid Power BI Microsoft Fabric Distributed Systems Cloud Computing System Architecture

What you'll do

Define technical vision and architecture for large-scale distributed systems.
Design, build, and review scalable, reliable, and secure software systems.
Resolve highly complex technical issues and optimize system performance and availability.
Lead cross-team engineering initiatives and drive technical strategy aligned with business objectives.
Partner with Product Management and Security leaders to influence roadmaps across multiple organizations.
Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar through rigorous code and design reviews.
Drive the adoption of shared platforms and lead major engineering investments.

What we're looking for

Bachelor'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 (or equivalent experience).
Ability to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire and every two years thereafter.
10+ years of software engineering experience (preferred).
Proven track record of delivering large-scale services or products (preferred).
Experience leading complex cross-team initiatives (preferred).
Deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud computing, system architecture, performance and scalability, and security and reliability engineering (preferred).
Proficiency in C#, Java, C++, Python, Go, and Azure technologies (preferred).
Leadership skills including strategic thinking, technical influence without direct authority, executive-level communication, stakeholder management, and organizational problem solving (preferred).

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