Principal Software Engineer
Summary
Principal Software Engineer on Microsoft's Windows AI team in Suzhou, designing and building high-quality backend services and components powering AI-driven Windows experiences such as intelligent assistants, task automation, and agentic workflows. Day-to-day is hands-on coding in languages like C#, C++, Java, Python, or Go, plus leveraging generative AI tools.
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
- Design and develop high-quality backend services and software components.
- Apply a systematic approach to solving complex and ambiguous engineering problems.
- Develop simple, extensible, reliable, and maintainable software designs.
- Make sound technical tradeoffs across quality, performance, reliability, cost, and development velocity.
- Write high-quality, well-tested, secure, and maintainable code.
- Diagnose complex technical and production issues and drive problems to resolution.
- Use data, telemetry, and engineering evidence to improve software and make technical decisions.
- Understand modern AI technologies and effectively leverage AI and AI-assisted engineering tools to improve development, testing, debugging, and productivity.
- Explore new technologies and apply them where they can meaningfully improve products or engineering practices.
- Collaborate effectively with engineers and partner teams to deliver end-to-end solutions.
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.
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:
- Solid software engineering and coding skills in C#, C++, Java, Python, Go, or similar languages.
- Solid software design and problem-solving skills.
- Experience developing and operating production backend services.
- Good understanding of APIs, data modeling, concurrency, cloud technologies, performance, reliability, and security.
- Ability to analyze and resolve complex technical problems.
- Practical understanding of generative AI, AI agents, or AI-assisted software development.
- Ability to learn new technologies quickly and apply them to real engineering problems.
- Solid communication and collaboration skills.
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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.