Microsoft 365 is the world’s leading productivity service, trusted by hundreds of millions of users worldwide. Microsoft 365 Core Platform is at the center of it all, providing the secure, compliant, and intelligent foundations that connect enterprise knowledge and actions across email, documents, messaging, and business applications.
The Connectors team is building the trusted integration layer that enables Microsoft 365 and Copilot experiences to reason over and act on enterprise data wherever it resides. Our portfolio includes first-party Graph Connectors (1P GC), which bring high-value Microsoft and enterprise content into Microsoft Graph and Microsoft 365 experiences, and first-party Copilot/Federated Copilot Connectors (FCC), which provide governed, reliable, and extensible access to external systems for grounding and agentic workflows.
We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to provide deep technical leadership for this strategically important area. You will help define the architecture and engineering direction for connectors that expand the reach and value of Microsoft 365 Copilot, accelerate onboarding of critical data sources, and establish a consistent control plane for connector development, quality, security, compliance, observability, and lifecycle management. This role is ideal for an innovative, hands-on engineer who can move across organizational boundaries, operate effectively in a co-development model, and turn ambiguous opportunities into durable platform capabilities with measurable customer and business impact.
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
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will combine hands-on engineering with broad technical leadership. You will shape architecture across 1P GC and FCC connectors, build reusable platform capabilities, raise the engineering bar, and align teams around clear technical decisions. You will work closely with product, design, applied science, security, compliance, partner teams, and external system owners to deliver secure, reliable, and differentiated connector experiences at Microsoft 365 scale.
As a senior technical leader in the Connectors team, you will:
- Define and drive the end-to-end technical vision, architecture, and execution strategy for 1P GC and FCC connectors and their shared platform capabilities.
- Build AI-native systems and engineering workflows that use agents, copilots, automation, evaluation, and data-driven feedback to improve developer velocity, connector quality, and customer outcomes.
- Create reusable frameworks, SDKs, contracts, and control-plane capabilities that make connectors easier to build, validate, deploy, monitor, govern, and operate at scale.
- Lead technical design and implementation for secure authentication, data access, grounding, action execution, reliability, observability, compliance, and responsible AI across connector scenarios.
- Partner across Microsoft in a co-development model, working with multiple engineering organizations and product teams to integrate high-value sources, resolve cross-system dependencies, and deliver cohesive end-to-end experiences.
- Translate complex and ambiguous business opportunities into pragmatic technical roadmaps, measurable milestones, and iterative customer value while balancing near-term delivery with long-term platform health.
- Establish engineering excellence through scalable design, clear APIs, automated testing and evaluation, experimentation, secure development practices, live-site readiness, diagnostics, and continuous improvement.
- Serve as a technical role model by reviewing critical designs and code, mentoring engineers, influencing leaders, and growing technical capability across the broader connector ecosystem.
Qualifications
Required/Minimum 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.
Additional or preferred qualifications
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:
- 14+ years of software engineering experience, including significant experience designing and delivering commercial-grade, distributed platforms or services at global scale.
- Proven success as a hands-on technical leader who has shaped architecture, influenced multiple teams, and delivered complex, multi-year initiatives from concept through sustained production operation.
- Deep expertise in cloud services, distributed systems, APIs, identity and authentication, data integration, security, reliability, observability, and operational excellence.
- Must be well versed in AI-native development, including effective use of AI-assisted engineering, agents or copilots, retrieval and grounding patterns, evaluation techniques, automation, and responsible AI practices.
- Demonstrated ability to innovate, rapidly learn unfamiliar domains, challenge existing assumptions, and convert emerging technologies into dependable customer-facing capabilities.
- Solid collaboration and influence skills, with the ability to work across organizational boundaries and succeed in a co-development model with partner engineering, product, design, security, compliance, and applied science teams.
- Excellent communication and technical judgment, with the ability to align senior stakeholders, make sound trade-offs, mentor engineers, and maintain momentum in a fast-moving and ambiguous environment.
#CAPIDC
#M365CORE
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, or equivalent experience
- 6+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, or comparable languages
- Ability to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter
- 14+ years of software engineering experience
- Experience designing and delivering commercial-grade distributed platforms or services at global scale
- Experience shaping architecture, influencing multiple teams, and delivering complex multi-year initiatives through production operation
- Expertise in cloud services, distributed systems, APIs, identity and authentication, data integration, security, reliability, observability, and operational excellence
- Experience with AI-native development, AI-assisted engineering, agents or copilots, retrieval and grounding, evaluation, automation, and responsible AI
- Strong collaboration, communication, technical judgment, stakeholder alignment, mentoring, and cross-organizational influence skills
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.
