Principal Software Engineer, AI Content Systems at Microsoft

Department: Software Engineering

Compensation

$165,600 – $296,400/yr

Setup: On-site
Location: Redmond, Washington
Type: Full-time
Level: staff+
Posted: Aug 21, 2026

Description

Microsoft is hiring a Principal Software Engineer to define and lead the technical direction of large-scale, AI-powered content platforms. The role owns distributed backend systems, cloud-native infrastructure, data platforms, and the integration of LLM-powered capabilities, with responsibilities spanning architecture, platform operations, responsible AI, cross-organization influence, and engineering excellence. Candidates need a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field and at least eight years of technical engineering experience; the typical U.S. base pay range is USD 165,600 to USD 296,400 per year, with higher ranges for the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metropolitan areas.

Required Skills

Distributed systems
Cloud architecture
LLM integration
Retrieval systems
Responsible AI
System design
Performance optimization

Additional Information

Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field
Required Previous Experiences: At least 8 years of technical engineering experience with coding in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
Architecting and delivering large-scale distributed systems or platforms used by millions of users
Owning and evolving production systems with high availability, low latency, and operational rigor
Driving technical strategy and influencing multiple teams or organizations
Leading complex, ambiguous, and high-impact technical initiatives end-to-end
Designing and scaling LLM-powered applications, AI agents, or intelligent platforms in production
Preferred Qualifications: Master's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field
12+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
15+ years of technical engineering experience with coding in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
Prior experience with Search, Recommendation, Retrieval, or ML systems
Deep expertise in backend systems, cloud-native architecture, and service-oriented or microservices-based design
Deep expertise in prompt orchestration, retrieval systems, agent workflows, and tool integration
Experience building evaluation and experimentation frameworks for AI systems
Experience with responsible AI practices, governance, and safety systems

About Microsoft

Microsoft

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