Principal Software Engineer
Microsoft
Principal Software Engineer
Redmond, Washington, United States
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Overview
Microsoft is a company where passionate innovators come to collaborate, envision what can be and take their careers further. This is a world of more possibilities, more innovation, more openness, and the sky is the limit thinking in a cloud-enabled world.
Microsoft’s Azure Data engineering team is leading the transformation of analytics in the world of data with products like databases, data integration, big data analytics, messaging & real-time analytics, and business intelligence. The products our portfolio include Microsoft Fabric, Azure SQL DB, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure PostgreSQL, Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Service Bus, Azure Event Grid, and Power BI. Our mission is to build the data platform for the age of AI, powering a new class of data-first applications and driving a data culture.
Within Azure Data, the databases team builds and maintains Microsoft's operational Database systems. We store and manage data in a structured way to enable multitude of applications across various industries. We are on a journey to enable developer friendly, mission-critical, AI enabled operational Databases across relational, non-relational and OSS offerings.
The SQL Server Storage Engine team is looking to hire a Principal Software Engineer to assist as the team is responsible for core components such as access methods, transactions, locking, logging, and recovery. Over the past few years, the team has delivered several impactful features that have significantly influenced the evolution of the SQL engine. Notable examples include Constant Time Recovery, Concurrent Updates to PFS pages, and Optimized Locking. These innovations have not only advanced the product but have also led to patents and publications in top-tier database conferences such as VLDB and ICDE.
We do not just value differences or different perspectives. We seek them out and invite them in so we can tap into the collective power of everyone in the company. As a result, our customers are better served.
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.
In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.
Qualifications
Required/Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, or related technical discipline AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.
- 4+ years' experience designing and debugging large-scale, technically complex features from concept to production, influencing long-term architectural direction.
- Experience communicating and collaborating effectively across teams, including product management, QA, and partner engineering groups.
- Experience mentoring engineers, fostering technical growth, and building high-performance teams.
Other Requirements
- 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/Additional Qualifications
- Demonstrated experience with database internals (Storage Engine, Transactions, Logging and Recovery etc).
- Ability to influence across disciplines and levels
- Experience with core database components is a plus.
- Commitment to delivering high-quality, reliable software with a strong understanding of customer scenarios, telemetry, and incident-driven improvements.
Software Engineering M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $163,000 - $296,400 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 $220,800 - $331,200 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
Microsoft will accept applications for the role until June 6, 2025
Responsibilities
- Partner with stakeholders to define complex user needs, incorporating feedback from multiple channels. Lead the use of continuous feedback loops and defines critical metrics to measure customer value and usage.
- Own and lead system architecture and design discussions for complex solutions, ensuring security and compliance. Mentor others, sets testing standards, and drive cross-team coordination to manage dependencies and optimize performance.
- Lead by example in writing maintainable, high-quality code and promotes best practices across teams. Be proficient in debugging and ensure code reviews meet Microsoft’s standards for reliability and scalability.
- Guide project planning and execution across multiple products, breaking down long-term goals into actionable milestones. Lead experimentation, deployment, and ensures safe, optimized releases aligned with business objectives.
- Take ownership of live site reliability, leading incident response and postmortems while mentoring others in DRI responsibilities. Drive telemetry integration and data analysis to improve system health and reduce incident volume.
- Champion best practices, automation, and compliance across development and deployment. Stay current with industry trends, leads tool development, and ensures scalable, secure, and high-performing solutions while fostering cross-team collaboration.
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