Principal Software Engineer

Overview

The Publisher Marketplace is a next-generation platform that enables LLM clients (such as Copilot) to discover, access, and pay for premium content from trusted publishers. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will lead the design and development of backend systems and data pipelines that power this marketplace. You will make key architectural decisions, ensure scalability and security, and mentor other engineers to deliver a world-class product.

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.  

Starting January 26, 2026, Microsoft AI (MAI) employees who live within a 50- mile commute of a designated Microsoft office in the U.S. or 25-mile commute of a non-U.S., country-specific location are expected to work from the office at least four days per week. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction.

Responsibilities

• Architects and builds scalable core services, including APIs and microservices for publisher onboarding, content catalog management, entitlement, and billing, ensuring secure integration with LLM clients for seamless content consumption.
• Designs and implements robust testing and analytics systems, developing ingestion pipelines for premium content, enabling real-time usage tracking, billing insights, and performance monitoring, while leveraging AI tools for test automation.
• Leads architecture and infrastructure design, creating systems that support subscription models, pay-per-use billing, and licensing compliance, while optimizing backend performance for high availability and low latency in AI-driven environments.
• Drives engineering excellence, applying secure coding practices, automation in deployment, and compliance validation, while continuously improving code quality, maintainability, and performance through metrics and best practices.
• Guides implementation and release planning, breaking down work into manageable tasks, estimating timelines, and ensuring disaster recovery, rollback strategies, and secure deployment processes are in place.
• Champions reliability and supportability, integrating telemetry and monitoring for live site operations, conducting incident retrospectives, and improving observability to reduce downtime and enhance system resilience. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in backend development and distributed systems.
• Solid knowledge of data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Kafka) and streaming systems.
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred), container orchestration (Kubernetes), and CI/CD pipelines.
• Familiarity with secure payment systems, API gateway patterns, and identity management.
• Proven ability to design high-scale systems for AI and LLM integration.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 10+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Experience with marketplace platforms, digital content monetization, or AI ecosystems.
• Knowledge of data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and intellectual property protection strategies.
• Understanding of LLM workflows and content licensing models.  

#MicrosoftAI

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

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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.