Principal Software Engineer | Microsoft Careers

Microsoft

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: Redmond, WA
Salary: $139,900–$274,800 / yr
Posted: 7 days ago
Closes: Dec 5, 2026
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

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Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $188k

This role $207k

$124k most similar roles pay here $291k

This role pays more than 60% of similar roles. Most pay $167,100–$208,800 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $207k versus about $188k for comparable roles.

Based on 239 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 1580 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $119,800–$234,700 across 1408 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Software Engineer | Microsoft Careers

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As a Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft’s AI division, you will lead the design and development of distributed data infrastructure and APIs that power adaptive experiences for Copilot. Your day-to-day responsibilities include architecting scalable, low-latency systems for ingesting, processing, and serving personalized user signals, designing data models and APIs to enable context-aware reasoning by Copilot, and building real-time personalization engines. You will also collaborate with privacy, security, and responsible AI teams to ensure that personalization is safe and transparent while optimizing performance across diverse workloads. Proficiency in backend technologies, familiarity with applied AI challenges, and the ability to make informed risk vs. value decisions are essential. Preferred skills include experience with large-scale data systems and a passion for staying current with industry trends and emerging technologies. This role involves working on cutting-edge solutions that enhance user experiences at scale while addressing complex privacy and security concerns.

Skills

Azure AWS GCP Python Kubernetes Docker CI/CD PostgreSQL Redis MongoDB GraphQL REST Apache Kafka Apache Spark Terraform Prometheus Grafana GitLab GitHub

What you'll do

Architect scalable, low-latency systems for ingesting, processing, and serving personalized signals.
Design data models and APIs enabling Copilot to understand user context and preferences.
Build real-time personalization engines that adapt Copilot’s behavior dynamically.
Ensure privacy, security, and transparency in all personalization features developed.
Optimize performance, reliability, and cost across diverse workloads globally.

What we're looking for

6+ years of experience building scalable services on cloud infrastructure like Azure, AWS, or GCP.
Proficiency in backend technologies and applied AI challenges.
Ability to design and implement distributed data systems and APIs.
Experience with real-time and batch personalization engines for adaptive user experiences.
Strong collaboration skills with privacy, security, and responsible AI teams.
Expertise in optimizing performance, reliability, and cost across diverse workloads.

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