Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft

Department: Software Engineering

Compensation

$142,800 – $274,800/yr

Setup: Hybrid
Location: Redmond, Washington · Austin, Texas · +1
Type: Full-time
Level: staff+
Posted: Oct 1, 2026

Description

Microsoft is hiring a Principal Software Engineer to develop and validate Windows experiences on next-generation silicon platforms. The role spans hardware and software prototyping, SoC and platform bring-up, hardware and firmware validation, system-level debugging, performance analysis, and scalable automation and regression testing. The engineer will collaborate with Microsoft teams, IHVs, OEMs, silicon design teams, firmware developers, operating system engineers, and system integration teams. Required qualifications include a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related technical field and at least six years of technical engineering experience with coding in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python; equivalent experience is also accepted. The typical U.S. base pay range is USD 142,800 to USD 274,800 per year, with higher ranges for the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area.

Required Skills

C
C++
C#
Java
JavaScript
Python
SoC architecture
Platform bring-up
Hardware debugging
Kernel debugging
Device drivers
Automated validation
Regression suites
Scrum

Additional Information

Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field
Required Previous Experiences: At least 6 years of technical engineering experience with coding in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
Equivalent experience
Preferred Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field
7+ years of software and/or product development experience
C/C++ design, coding, debugging, and testing experience
Strong verbal and written technical communication
SoC architecture, platform bring-up, boot flows, and system initialization
Silicon validation, hardware debugging, and root cause analysis
Knowledge of PCIe, NVMe, USB, I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO, and power management
Operating system fundamentals, memory management, scheduling, interrupts, synchronization, and multithreaded programming
Windows or Linux device driver development, debugging, and optimization
Plug and Play architecture, device enumeration, power management, and driver lifecycle management
Kernel debugging, crash dump analysis, hardware debuggers, and JTAG-based bring-up and validation
Maintainable, modular, reusable, scalable, and supportable software design
Automated validation frameworks, test infrastructure, and regression suites
Analytical troubleshooting across silicon, firmware, drivers, operating systems, and applications
Cross-functional and external partner collaboration
Agile development and Scrum methodologies
Translation Company Name: Microsoft

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