Principal Software Engineer

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 messaging and real-time analytics team provides comprehensive solutions and a robust platform that enables users to ingest high granularity signals (real-time & observability) and complex data, converting those into a competitive advantage in real-time for both end users and modern applications.  ​  We think big. Today, our platform processes millions of events every second utilizing tens of thousands of virtual machines spread across dozens of data centers. As a Principal Software Engineer in the Messaging and Real-Time Analytics team you will help us achieve our mission of enabling no-code users to get intelligent insights and create automated processes to unlock the value hidden in data.    We are looking for an experienced Principal Software Engineer with a track record of driving complex, cross-team initiatives in security, infrastructure, and automation. This role demands deep technical expertise, strategic thinking, and hands-on leadership to elevate engineering excellence across the organization. You will lead enterprise-wide security initiatives that ensure infrastructure and services meet the highest standards of compliance, privacy, and protection. You will also focus on enhancing system reliability, observability, and development velocity while fostering a culture of accountability, quality, and continuous improvement. As a technical leader, you are expected to guide teams through architectural decisions, mentor engineers, and champion best practices to deliver enterprise-grade solutions at scale. In addition to leading initiatives, you will actively contribute code to centralized projects, ensuring technical depth and direct impact on core systems.    We value people, learning, and doing the right thing. We cultivate a high-trust environment with great collaboration and fun. We want people who help shape our vision, help others succeed, and learn constantly. We try new ideas and fail-fast. We use the minimal process needed to deliver great results as a team. We love delighting our customers and aim to deliver an exceptional platform and user experience.  ​​  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. 

Responsibilities

- Drive implementation of enterprise-grade initiatives focused on security, privacy, compliance, and infrastructure hardening.

- Build and evolve core backend services and cross-cutting infrastructure to support scalable and resilient systems.

- Contribute to centralized codebases, delivering high-quality, maintainable solutions that set the standard for engineering excellence.

- Automate DevOps workflows and operational tasks to improve efficiency and reduce manual overhead.

- Enhance system monitoring, observability, and reliability to ensure robust production performance.

- Set engineering standards through hands-on leadership, clean code practices, and technical mentorship.

- Collaborate across global teams to align on technology strategy, share innovations, and accelerate delivery.​ 

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications 

- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND extensive technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.

- Strong experience designing, implementing and operating large scale distributed cloud services.

- Solid experience as a technical leader and coordinator or complex engineering projects. 

- Proven experience in enterprise and security space.  

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 

- ​​Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND advanced 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 advanced technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.

- Distributed systems development and deployment experience with cloud services ( e.g. Azure, AWS, GCP).

- Highly effective leadership and communication. - Experience with large-scale software engineering.

- Experience with managing complex projects

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.