Principal Software Engineer

As a Principal Software Engineer on the Search & AI Platform team you will be collaborating in building the deep learning inferencing system using in-house and open-source technologies, and working on performance analysis, key components scaling up, distributed system debugging, and new feature/algorithm development. You will be hands-on in a massively scaled and distributed system, and a wide range of CPU and GPU hardware.

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.

Starting January 26, 2026, MAI employees are expected to work from a designated Microsoft office at least four days a week if they live within 50 miles (U.S.) or 25 miles (non-U.S., country-specific) of that location. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction. 

Responsibilities

• Ship high-quality, well-tested, secure, and maintainable code.
• Work collaboratively and communicate effectively with engineering, data scientists and product teams.
• Design, and develop large scale distributed software services and solutions in collaboration with teammates.
• Design services with a solid focus on high availability and scalability, robustness, and observability.
• Take end-to-end responsibility for the development, observability, quality, testing, and production readiness of the services you build.
• Design the system at scale for scenarios and canvases to be supported.
• Iterate the service capabilities as new requirements emerge with service rolled out.
• 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.
• 6+ years of experience on distributed systems (e.g., communication optimization, network architecture design, network programming).

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 on distributed systems (e.g., communication optimization, network architecture design, network programming).
  
• 8+ years of experience on high performance computing (e.g., cache/memory optimization, high-performance GPU programming, compiler-based optimization, fine-grained parallel library and runtime) or distributed systems (e.g., communication optimization, network architecture design, network programming).
  
• Experience on deep learning model and large language model (LLM) serving. Experience on performance analysis and optimization for both CPUs and GPUs, as well as good understanding on software-hardware codesign.

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is