Senior Software Engineer, Data Platforms and Services - Minecraft

Overview

At Mojang Studios, the creators of Minecraft, we are on a mission to build a better world through the power of play.

Why play? Well, play is at the heart of everything we do. It's the blocky backbone of our games, the core of our development philosophy, and even the origin of our name. From the relentless experimentation of our endlessly inspiring community to the classrooms where Minecraft has become an essential teaching tool, play is the bedrock of our existence.

We enable millions to create and play together, connect people across the globe, and foster a community that is among the most active and passionate in the world. Our community is global and incredibly diverse. When we are developing anything within our franchise, we keep this in mind. We want everyone to not only feel included in Minecraft, but also to see themselves in what we make. Our goal is for the Mojang Studios team to be as diverse as our community.

We are hiring a Senior Software Engineer to design, build, and operate scalable data platforms and services that power Minecraft player insights, personalization, and analytics.

In this role, you will own end-to-end development of cloud-based data services and APIs, partnering closely with Marketplace, Web, and AI teams to enable reliable and scalable data access. You will be responsible for building and maintaining Azure-based infrastructure using Terraform and CI/CD (Continuous Integration (CI) / Continuous Delivery/Deployment ) pipelines, ensuring consistent deployments across environments.

You will act as a Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) for critical systems, driving production reliability through monitoring, incident response, and clear service ownership models. The role also requires a strong focus on performance, cost efficiency, and security compliance across data pipelines and services.

This is a high-impact role at the center of Mojang's data platform, enabling data-driven decision making and next-generation AI-powered player experiences.

In the end, it's the people of Mojang Studios that make this place truly special. When you join, you'll find yourself in the company of incredibly bright, warm, and creative individuals - all united and working toward a single goal. Come help us reach it!

Responsibilities

• Build and operate scalable data services and APIs powering personalization, analytics, and player insights across Mojang.
• Own end-to-end cloud infrastructure (Azure + Terraform + CI/CD) for reliable, repeatable deployments across environments.
• Ensure production reliability (ICM/DRI ownership, monitoring, incident response) for critical data systems and services.
• Drive performance, cost efficiency, and security compliance across data pipelines, services, and infrastructure.
• Build and maintain shared C++ telemetry libraries used across gameplay systems and services.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Computer Science, Math, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years experience in business analytics, data science, software development, data modeling, or data engineering OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Math, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years experience in business analytics, data science, software development, data modeling, or data engineering
  • OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Professional experience developing production systems in C++.
• Experience working within large or legacy C++ codebases.
• Familiarity with modern C++ standards (C++14/17/20) and best practices.
• Understanding of memory management, performance optimization, and multithreaded runtime systems.
• Experience integrating instrumentation into mature production systems with high reliability requirements.
• Experience with telemetry, logging, or event-based instrumentation systems.
• Experience using C# or Python to build platform-side tooling, ingestion services, or validation workflows.
• Familiarity with data ingestion or analytics platforms (e.g., Azure-based data systems, Spark, Databricks).
• Experience designing or working with event schemas and versioned data contracts.
• Experience modernizing legacy systems toward maintainable platform integrations.
• Familiarity with serialization frameworks (e.g., JSON, Protobuf, FlatBuffers).
• Passion for Minecraft and interest in player-focused, data-informed product development.
• Games-industry knowledge.
• Verbal and written communication skills; ability to translate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

#mojangjobs #gamingjobs

Data Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 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 $160,200 - $261,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
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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.