Team Purpose
Would you be excited about building a global-scale, Kubernetes-based service platform that powers Microsoft's productivity workloads? Do you want to lead a team of talented and motivated engineers who use cutting-edge technology and best practices to deliver high-quality solutions? If so, join us on the COSMIC team and help us shape the future of Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.
The COSMIC team, part of the M365 Substrate Core organization, has a bold mission to standardize how we deliver services and build a modern Kubernetes-based compute fabric with turn-key geo-presence, security, high availability, fault isolation and automated cloud build out. COSMIC, which stands for Containers on Substrate-Managed Intelligent Clusters, is a strategic bet we are making to modernize our compute platform and improve the agility, security, compliance, and COGS of our services in the Experience and Devices division.
We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to help us take the platform to the next level and deliver on our promises of fabric unification and turn-key developer experience.
Job Purpose
In this role you will be working with multiple teams across COSMIC and M365 Substrate Core defining and building solutions to deliver a high-level, prescriptive geo-scale application platform which standardizes how we deliver enterprise-ready services to the Microsoft cloud.
This opportunity will allow you to work extensively with Microsoft Azure technologies while also using industry standard open source such as Kubernetes and related components. You will provide effective mentoring and technical leadership and will also have opportunities to collaborate with numerous teams across Microsoft and have significant impact on hundreds of critical Microsoft services running on the COSMIC platform.
This is a flexible work opportunity and there is an option to work fully remotely.
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.
Responsibilities
Partners with appropriate stakeholders to determine user requirements for one or more complex scenarios.
Provides technical leadership for the identification of dependencies and the development of design documents for a product, application, service, or platform.
Leads by example and mentors others to produce extensible and maintainable code used across the company.
Leverages deep subject-matter expertise of cross-product features with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., project managers) to lead multiple product's project plans, release plans, and work items.
Holds accountability as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI), mentoring engineers across products/solutions, working on-call to monitor system/product/service for degradation, downtime, or interruptions.
Proactively seeks new knowledge and adapts to new trends, technical solutions, and patterns that will improve the availability, reliability, efficiency, observability, and performance of products while also driving consistency in monitoring and operations at scale and shares knowledge with other engineers.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor'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 equivalent experience.
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 Qualifications:
- Master's 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 Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 15+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
- OR equivalent experience.
Software Engineering IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $165,600 - $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
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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 8+ years of technical engineering experience coding in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python, or equivalent experience
- Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements
- Pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter
- Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field and 12+ years of technical engineering experience, or bachelor’s degree and 15+ years of experience, or equivalent experience
Microsoft Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Microsoft and has not been reviewed or approved by Microsoft.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is presented as broadly competitive overall, with clear role/level/location variation and an emphasis on using posted ranges and band information for apples-to-apples comparisons.
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Retirement Support — Retirement benefits are described as a standout, highlighted by a strong 401(k) match structure and immediate vesting, plus additional plan features for tax-advantaged saving.
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Parental & Family Support — Family-oriented benefits are portrayed as a meaningful strength, with substantial paid parental leave and added supports like back-up care and adoption/surrogacy assistance.
Microsoft Insights
What We Do
At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our mission is grounded in both the world in which we live and the future we strive to create. Today, we live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, and the transformation we are driving across our businesses is designed to enable Microsoft and our customers to thrive in this world.
