Microsoft 365 Copilot is a groundbreaking productivity tool that leverages the power of large language models, user data, Microsoft Graph, and the web to drive unparalleled creativity and productivity. At the heart of this innovation is the Agent platform, which designs and operates the agent runtime, integrations across M365 apps, and platform to build features that flow consistently to Flagship, 1P, and 3P agents. Our team is building a modular, event‑driven platform that raises agility, reliability, and composability for every Copilot experience.
We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help us deliver the next generation of the Agent Platform. You will design, develop, and harden core platform capabilities, real‑time multimodal orchestration, long‑running task durability, and self‑serve partner tooling to unlock safe, rapid innovation across the ecosystem.
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and delivering innovative platform services. You’ll code, debug, test, and troubleshoot production systems that other agents depend on; contribute to safe deployment practices and flighting; build robust telemetry and evals; and collaborate with partner teams to ship features once and light them up everywhere.
In this role, you are expected to have a deep understanding of distributed systems and apply software engineering principles to create high‑quality, observable, and reliable services. You will work closely with other engineers and PMs to ensure our platform meets partner and user needs, adheres to M365 Core engineering standards, and is delivered with guardrails that protect reliability and customer trust.
You will have the opportunity to grow your skills and take on new challenges—ranging from runtime/orchestration and real‑time multimodal to API/protocol design and developer experience while operating at the core of M365 where your work scales across Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. Join us and help build the platform that powers the next generation of Copilot agents.
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
- Guides engineers within and across teams to produce extensible, maintainable, well‑tested, secure, and performant code that adheres to design specifications.
- Partners with appropriate stakeholders to determine user requirements for one or more complex scenarios.
- Provides technical leadership in identifying dependencies and developing design documents for a product, application, service, or platform.
- Leads by example and mentors others to produce high‑quality code used across the company, promoting engineering excellence and long‑term maintainability.
- Leverages deep subject‑matter expertise of cross‑product features to collaborate with stakeholders and lead multiple products’ project plans, release plans, and work items.
- Holds accountability as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI), mentoring engineers across products/solutions and participating in on‑call rotations to monitor system/product/service health, including degradation, downtime, or interruptions.
- Proactively seeks new knowledge and adapts to emerging trends, technologies, and patterns to improve availability, reliability, efficiency, observability, and performance, while driving consistency in monitoring and operations at scale; shares learnings with other engineers.
- Embody our Culture and Values
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.
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 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 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
- OR equivalent experience.
- 2+ years of experience working on building and designing complex web apps.
- 2+ years of experience working on web performance, including experience with web profiling tools and familiarity with industry best practices
- 2+ years of experience on defining engineering culture for a broader organization, including best practices on automation, performance, and reliability.
- 2+ years of experience leading crews of 5+ engineers on complex engineering projects in the web development space.
#CAP #Copilot
Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 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 $188,000 - $304,200 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, or equivalent experience
- 6+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in languages including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
- Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements
- 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 8+ years of technical engineering experience, or bachelor's degree and 12+ years of experience, or equivalent experience
- 2+ years of experience building and designing complex web applications
- 2+ years of experience with web performance, web profiling tools, and industry best practices
- 2+ years of experience defining engineering culture for a broader organization, including automation, performance, and reliability practices
- 2+ years of experience leading teams of 5 or more engineers on complex web development projects
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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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as comprehensive, with preventive care coverage, vision options, and annual out-of-pocket limits. Feedback suggests medical, mental-health, and disability support are a major strength of the package.
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Parental & Family Support — Family support is expansive, including parental leave, family caregiver leave, child-care assistance, family concierge services, fertility options, and college-advising support for eligible employees. Feedback suggests these benefits meaningfully ease caregiving and family planning demands.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing resources include counseling and employee-assistance services, wellness reimbursements, product discounts, and charitable-matching programs. Feedback suggests these extras complement core benefits and support day-to-day quality of life.
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.
