Principal Software Engineer

The Visual Studio Engineering team builds the next-generation engineering system behind Visual Studio, the foundation that enables thousands of developers across DevDiv and Microsoft to build, test, and ship Visual Studio and related products with speed, reliability, and confidence. We are part of Core AI's Developer Division, powering the tools and platforms that help developers innovate faster and ship with quality.

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer who is passionate about building and evolving large-scale engineering systems, and who can drive technical strategy and execution across teams to solve complex challenges in Microsoft's developer infrastructure. In this role, you will lead the technical direction for critical services and workflows that underpin Visual Studio's build, test, and release ecosystem. You will partner closely with product and engineering leaders across DevDiv and 1ES to identify systemic friction, define long-term architectural direction, and deliver scalable, secure, and reliable solutions.

If you are excited about shaping developer productivity at Microsoft scale, building cloud platforms, applying AI to simplify engineering workflows, and raising the bar for how engineering systems are designed and operated, this is a unique opportunity to have broad impact. You will be a technical leader on a collaborative, data-driven team that values technical depth, clarity of design, and thoughtful execution. You will influence architecture across multiple services, mentor engineers, and help define how our engineering systems evolve to support Visual Studio and Microsoft for years to come.

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.

• Set and drive technical direction for core engineering systems that power the Visual Studio ecosystem, including build and release automation, functional and performance testing infrastructure, and developer productivity services, with a strong focus on reliability, scale, security, and compliance.
• Design and evolve large-scale cloud architectures in Azure that support critical engineering workflows across DevDiv and Microsoft, ensuring solutions are resilient, cost-effective, observable, and aligned with long-term platform strategy.
• Lead complex, cross-team initiatives by partnering with engineering and product leaders across DevDiv, 1ES, and partner organizations to define shared solutions.
• Identify systemic pain points in developer workflows and drive end-to-end improvements that remove friction, reduce operational burden, and improve developer confidence and productivity.
• Advance the use of AI in engineering systems, such as AI-assisted troubleshooting, intelligent build and test orchestration, and data-driven recommendations, to meaningfully improve developer experience and engineering velocity.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers across the team, raise design and code quality through reviews and design forums, and foster a culture of strong engineering fundamentals and continuous learning.
• Contribute to engineering and organizational strategy, helping shape investment priorities, technical roadmaps, and long-term platform evolution for Visual Studio engineering systems.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years of software engineering experience with coding in languages such as C#, C++, Java, TypeScript, JavaScript, or Python

• OR equivalent experience

Other Requirements:

Background Check: Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years of technical engineering experience

• OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 12+ years of technical engineering experience
• OR equivalent experience.

• Experience designing and operating cloud services and RESTful APIs in production environments.
• Experience with Azure, including services such as Azure Functions, Cosmos DB, Azure DevOps and/or GitHub-based DevOps workflows, and large-scale service operations.
• Experience driving secure software supply chain practices, compliance and governance requirements, and platform-level security designs in highly regulated environments.
• Background in service observability, reliability engineering, and performance optimization for high-throughput and business-critical systems.
• Experience leading or architecting CI/CD platforms, build systems, or large-scale test infrastructure used by many teams.
• Demonstrated experience applying AI and machine learning technologies (such as large language models, GitHub Copilot, or Azure OpenAI) to improve engineering workflows, including scenarios such as automated analysis, diagnostics, test generation, or developer assistance.
• A track record of mentoring Engineers and growing technical leaders, and of contributing to engineering culture through design leadership and technical excellence.

#DDJL

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Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

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.