We are looking to welcome a Principal Software Engineer to a group of innovative, energetic and diverse engineers on the CoPilot Runtime Platform team, which is the engineering organization responsible for the foundational platform powering Microsoft 365 Copilot. We build the runtime, orchestration, data access, grounding, storage, observability, reliability, and developer infrastructure that enables AI-powered experiences across Microsoft 365.
As part of the team, you will work on large-scale distributed systems, AI platform architecture, enterprise search and grounding technologies, developer frameworks, platform extensibility, reliability engineering, and next-generation Copilot experiences. Our engineers partner across Microsoft to deliver secure, scalable, and highly available AI services that serve millions of users worldwide.
This role offers the opportunity to influence the future architecture of Microsoft 365 Copilot while solving challenging problems at the intersection of distributed systems, AI, search, data platforms, and cloud-scale services.
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
- Partner with internal and external stakeholders to understand and incorporate user requirements and feedback into solutions.
- Lead architectural discussions and design of complex products, including evaluation of multiple design options, creating proposals, making design decisions, and coaching less experienced team members. Establish and promote best coding and security practices, scaling solutions to meet performance, security, and scalability needs.
- Partner with stakeholders to drive project and release planning while ensuring adherence to security, privacy, compliance, and operational considerations. Identify dependencies across teams and technologies, coordinate collaboration, and drive alignment on schedules and responsibilities.
- Serve as a designated responsible individual (DRI) for live-site incident monitoring, coordination, resolution, and prevention efforts. Maintain live service operations, implement mitigations for complex issues, improve on-call processes, and promote secure operations.
- Lead by example in producing extensible, maintainable, secure, well-tested code, applying coding best practices, and managing development risks. Conduct thorough code reviews ensuring adherence to standards, test coverage, security, and best practices.
Lead identification and application of AI automation, tooling and agentic approaches across the software lifecycle incorporating Responsible AI principles and SDLC engineering health measures. - Stay current with Microsoft standards, industry trends and new technologies, share knowledge, and lead learning activities. Ensure compliance with security, privacy, safety, and accessibility standards, maintain audit trails, and understand regulatory requirements.
- Collaborate with partner teams to ensure integration, scalability, performance, and escalation pathways before release.
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.
- Experience with AI‑native development where AI systems—not humans—perform most of the product lifecycle (research, specification, design, coding, testing), while humans provide direction, architecture, and approval. It treats AI as a core architectural assumption from day one, with continuous learning loops, probabilistic output handling, and AI‑driven pipelines.
#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 and 6+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python, or equivalent experience.
- Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements, including the Microsoft Cloud Background Check.
- 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.
- Experience with AI-native development in which AI systems perform most of the product lifecycle while humans provide direction, architecture, and approval.
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 — Medical, dental, and vision coverage is described as comprehensive, with U.S. plans covering preventive care at 100% and limiting annual out-of-pocket costs. Mental-health counseling, employee assistance, and wellbeing resources are also emphasized.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental leave, family-caregiver leave, childcare assistance, and family concierge services are highlighted as core elements. These supports are presented alongside parenting and family-planning resources.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Vacation, holidays, and flexible work schedules are emphasized, with generous time-away policies noted. Leave options extend beyond standard vacation to include caregiver and parental programs.
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.
