JobPosting
title: Principal Software Engineer
description: We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join the Store Database Team within Microsoft's Substrate Storage Fabric. The team builds and operates core data infrastructure for Microsoft 365 experiences, such as Outlook and Teams, and AI-powered Copilot innovations. The ideal candidate will have deep experience and expertise in building ultra-high-scale storage and data access solutions. You will lead architecture, design, and delivery of large-scale storage platform capabilities, drive technical strategy, and partner with engineers and product managers to define technical direction. Responsibilities: Lead architecture, design, and delivery of large-scale storage platform capabilities Drive technical strategy and execution across complex initiatives Partner with engineers, product managers, and dependent service teams to define technical direction Lead design of AI-native systems and distributed storage architectures Establish technical standards and guardrails for AI-enabled solutions Use telemetry, experimentation, and data-driven analysis to identify bottlenecks and improve service health Lead live-site excellence and drive root-cause analysis and resiliency improvements Mentor engineers and technical leaders across the organization Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 6+ years of technical engineering experience Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements Preferred Qualifications: Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 8+ years of technical engineering experience Deep expertise in distributed storage systems, databases, cloud infrastructure, and service architecture Experience designing and operating AI-native services and applying AI-assisted engineering practices
date posted: 2026-08-01T15:08:24.020Z
valid through: 2026-09-30T15:08:24.020Z
direct apply: false
occupational category: Engineering
industry: Technology
skills: C
skills: C++
skills: C#
skills: Java
skills: JavaScript
skills: Python
skills: distributed storage systems
skills: databases
skills: cloud infrastructure
skills: Master's Degree in Computer Science
skills: AI-native services
skills: AI-assisted engineering practices
hiring organization: Microsoft
  type: Organization
  ticker symbol: MSFT
  founding date: 1975
  number of employees: QuantitativeValue
    value: 228000
job location: Place
  address: PostalAddress
    address locality: Redmond
    address region: WA
    address country: US
employment type: FULL_TIME
base salary: MonetaryAmount
  currency: USD
  value: QuantitativeValue
    min value: 142800
    max value: 274800
    unit text: YEAR