principal Software engineer

Overview

We are the Windows Servicing and Delivery (WSD) organization, our core mission is to keep customers protected and productive by delivering seamless and timely Windows updates to our customers in existing and future versions of Windows. This work demands solving complex challenges in the Windows operating systems and building mission-critical services and infrastructure. In addition to updates, we empower commercial and enterprise customers with products and solutions to deploy and secure their devices effectively.

This role offers the opportunity to operate on a massive scale, protecting billions while also supporting new business growth across the company. You will have the chance to influence the roadmap of new and existing features in Windows and the delivery pipeline.

We are looking for a highly skilled technology leader with a strong background in software architecture, design, and development. The ideal candidate should be adept at navigating complex and ambiguous problems to deliver high-quality solutions for our customers and partners. This role requires someone who is comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment, making decisions, leading from the front, and building strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. "

We value passion, creativity, agility, accountability and desire to learn new complex technical areas. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, and delivering exceptional Windows experiences is our top priority. Their excitement fuels our passion for building high-quality solutions.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

If youre excited about building world-class teams, thrive on solving tough problems, and are driven by customer impact, we’d love to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Promote cross group collaboration, working across boundaries and building partnerships with stakeholder teams to achieve consensus and best customer outcome.
• Delivery of technical solutions with an appropriate balance of risk taking and prioritization – taking projects from ideation to results, with high quality.
• Design, develop, and operationalize the deployment of complex, enterprise-grade solutions.
• Reproducing, debugging and fixing customer-reported problems.
• Crafting high-quality, bug-free fixes with minimum application compatibility risk.
• Add new features to Windows.
• Lead by example, engage in discussions on the architecture of products or solutions, and apply engineering principles to establish robust and maintainable architecture and designs.
• Driving engineering improvements and rigor within the team as well as with stakeholders.
• Mentoring junior engineers in the team.
  
  

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
• OR equivalent experience.
• 12+ years of experience in software engineering with a strong background in system architecture and distributed systems.
• Proficiency in C++ for client-side components and .NET/Azure for backend services.
• Proven track record of leading high-visibility projects with cross-team collaboration.
• Solid analytical and problem-solving skills with a focus on performance and reliability.
• Ability to understand unfamiliar code bases, and debug server-side, multi-threaded, and highly scalable applications.
• Experience in working with Windows system level programming is desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in collaborating with geographically distributed partner teams
• Proven communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Demonstrated engineering leadership and experience in building and managing diverse and inclusive teams.
• Demonstrated experience leading and growing a team
  

Preferred Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in software engineering with a strong background in system architecture and distributed systems..
• Experience with OS Internals and system programming
• Experience in cloud computing platforms, AI/ML and Data Engineering.
• Knowledge of security best practices and experience implementing secure software solutions.
  
  

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

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