below marketmost similar roles pay hereabove market
This role pays more than
65%
of similar roles. Most pay
$169,550–$227,400
— the blue band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$209k
versus about
$198k
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 joins the Microsoft Substrate Data Plane team to build foundational services for Microsoft 365 experiences. In this role, you will lead the architecture, development, and operation of large-scale, highly available distributed systems. You will develop platform capabilities for AI-powered experiences, specifically focusing on agent orchestration, tool execution, data access, grounding, and workflow automation. Your daily work involves designing services for search, retrieval, indexing, and data processing workloads. You must possess technical engineering experience using languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python. The role requires expertise in building low-latency services that process billions of signals and interactions across Exchange, Teams, and Copilot, solving complex problems related to scalability, reliability, performance, security, and operational excellence.
What does a Software Engineer earn?
Median $197400 from 2576 postings across 150 companies.
Design, build, and operate large-scale, highly available cloud services for billions of global requests.
Drive the architecture and delivery of distributed systems focused on scalability, reliability, and performance.
Develop platform capabilities for AI-powered experiences, including agent orchestration and workflow automation.
Use telemetry and AI-assisted diagnostics to improve service health and accelerate incident mitigation.
Lead complex technical initiatives and influence long-term platform strategy across multiple teams.
Mentor engineers and establish engineering best practices to foster a culture of innovation.
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.
Equivalent experience to the required degree and years of experience.
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).
Equivalent experience to the preferred degree and years of experience.
Experience with modern AI-driven software development practices, tools, and feedback loops to accelerate engineering velocity and improve software quality (preferred).
C
C++
C#
Java
JavaScript
Python
Azure
AWS
GCP
Red Teaming
Exploit Development
Vulnerability Discovery
Post-Exploitation
Agent Platform Development
Threat Intelligence
Adversary Emulation