Principal Software Engineer Manager

Microsoft is hiring a Principal Software Engineering Manager to lead the team responsible for Azure's configuration distribution platform-a foundational system that ensures configurations are reliably delivered across the cloud. This role is ideal for individuals who enjoy solving complex distributed systems challenges, growing engineering teams, and building dependable infrastructure that supports services across Azure.

Our mission is to standardize and scale configuration distribution to make it more secure, efficient, and resilient in a dynamic cloud environment. This platform supports how services operate, deploy, and maintain reliability across fleets of microservices, containers, and virtual machines deployed in multiple regions and zones. Ensuring timely and accurate configuration delivery is essential for system performance, security, and operational agility.

In this role, you will lead a team designing scalable systems, collaborating across organizational boundaries, and laying the groundwork for service teams to build with confidence. You will contribute to strategic decisions, guide execution across a broad technical surface, and support both technical depth and leadership development. The position offers exposure to complex engineering challenges and the opportunity to deliver solutions informed by both qualitative feedback and quantitative data.

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:

• Guides partnership with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., project manager, technical lead) to determine user requirements within and across teams.
• Guides teams and leads identification of dependencies and the development of design documents for a product, application, service, or platform.
• Optimizes, debugs, refactors, and reuses code to improve performance and maintainability, effectiveness, and return on investment (ROI).
• Guides team to drive multiple group's project plans, release plans, and work items in coordination with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., project managers).
• Guides team and acts as an expert for Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) and monitors other engineers across product lines, working on call to monitor system/product/service for degradation, downtime, or interruptions.
• Leads product development and scaling to customer requirements and applies best practices for meeting scaling needs and performance expectations and holds accountability for products that do not meet expectations.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, or related technical discipline AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, or Rust
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 1+ year(s) of experience of coding/designing experience in distributed systems cloud-based services.
• 2+ year(s) of experience years people management experience.

Other Qualifications:

• 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:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science ot related technical field AND 10+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, or Rust
  • OR Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, or Rust
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 4+ year(s) of experience years people management experience.
• 1+ year(s) of coding/designing experience in distributed systems cloud based services.

Software Engineering M5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $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: ;br>
Microsoft will accept applications for the role until October 10, 2025.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form .

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

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