Principal Software Engineer

About the job

Overview SEERA (Secure Enclave for Engineers, Researchers & Agents) builds secure, governed environments that enable engineers and security researchers to work productively with sensitive data while maintaining strong access controls, compliance, and auditability. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will provide hands-on technical leadership across cloud infrastructure, secure workspaces, and trusted data access, while helping shape the platform’s evolution toward secure execution of AI-agent workloads. You will tackle complex architecture challenges, deliver production-quality software, and influence technical direction across teams, balancing security and reliability with researcher and developer productivity.

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 • Advance trusted execution for AI agents, establishing controlled access to sensitive data and tools with built-in identity, policy enforcement, and auditability.

• Design, implement, and ship cloud services that make secure workspaces and governed data access easier to use, extend, and operate.

• Champion innovation in Platform-Infra domains, including AI-assisted automation.

• Mentor and guide researchers and engineers, fostering technical growth and alignment with Microsoft’s security priorities.

• Investigate critical security issues (root cause, motivation, impact) and elevate findings to influence product and strategy decisions.

• Design and validate solutions by partnering with engineering teams to translate findings into production systems.

• Partner with Product and Engineering to lay out a vision and a prioritized roadmap of work needed to support the multitude of Microsoft customers.

Embody our culture and values

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.

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 background and Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience shipping large scale software

• Proven ability to define vision, deliver and communicate solutions to complex technical problems

• Passion for working on technical challenges and getting your hands dirty to get the job done

• A sense of pride and personal accountability for end-to-end quality, craftsmanship & completeness

• Experience collaborating across organizations/divisions, and bringing people together to achieve the goal

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.