This role pays more than
57%
of similar roles. Most pay
$151,000–$214,000
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$177k
versus about
$182k
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
598 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$119,800–$234,700
across 586 roles with salary data.
As a Senior Software Engineer, Distributed Systems, you will join the Microsoft Events team to architect, build, and operate scalable distributed applications and services powering flagship events like Microsoft Ignite and Microsoft Build. You will be responsible for designing systems with extreme elasticity to handle massive, unpredictable spikes in demand during registration openings and live keynotes while ensuring high availability, security, and performance. Your daily work involves leading technical direction, mentoring engineers, conducting design reviews, and implementing automated testing and deep observability. The role requires proficiency in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python, along with experience in distributed data stores, caching, messaging, and event-driven architectures. You will solve critical infrastructure challenges by building secure, cloud-based microservices using containers and CI/CD to ensure a seamless attendee experience during high-traffic moments.
What does a Software Engineer earn in Washington?
Median $202800 from 326 postings across 28 companies.
Architect, build, and operate scalable distributed applications for high-traffic flagship events.
Design systems for extreme elasticity to handle massive, unpredictable spikes in user demand.
Own end-to-end reliability by setting availability targets and leading incident response efforts.
Engineer security and privacy into all services to meet strict compliance and data standards.
Improve engineering quality through rigorous design reviews, automated testing, and deep observability.
Translate product requirements from cross-functional partners into resilient technical solutions.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to guide architecture and grow the team's skills.
Evaluate emerging technologies to improve system scale, reliability, and development velocity.
What we're looking for
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field and 4+ years of technical engineering experience in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python.
Master's Degree in Computer Science and 6+ years of experience, or a Bachelor's Degree and 8+ years of experience in relevant programming languages.
Experience building high-traffic, consumer-facing platforms such as event, media, or streaming services.
Expertise in architecting distributed systems that handle sudden, high-concurrency traffic and global distribution.
Proficiency in distributed data stores, caching, messaging, event-driven architectures, and performance tuning.
Proven track record of technical leadership, mentorship, and influence across various teams and disciplines.
Experience designing and delivering large-scale, cloud-based applications using microservices, containers, CI/CD, and infrastructure as code.
Hands-on experience with a major cloud platform, preferably Microsoft Azure.
Distributed Systems
Build Systems
Bazel
Buck
Swift Build
SRE
Observability
Monitoring
Telemetry
Data Analytics
Infrastructure
Backend
Caching Strategies