Backend Software Engineer

Overview

Shape the future of AI-powered search and help billions of users find answers instantly. The Bing GenAI team is at the forefront of revolutionizing how people interact with information, building the intelligent systems that power Microsoft Copilot, Bing generative answers, and next-generation search experiences. You'll be working alongside world-class engineers and researchers to push the boundaries of what's possible with large language models and generative AI.

As a Backend Software Engineer on this team, you will help architect and build the high-performance services that power generative AI features across Bing and Copilot. You'll work on prompt engineering and tuning, develop modern C#-based service layers, and drive the planning and delivery of new feature areas including web grounding, Search mode, answer cards, and generative UI. This opportunity will allow you to accelerate your career in cutting-edge AI systems, develop deep expertise in large-scale distributed services, and gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art language models.

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.

Starting January 26, 2026, Microsoft AI (MAI) employees who live within a 50- mile commute of a designated Microsoft office in the U.S. or 25-mile commute of a non-U.S., country-specific location are expected to work from the office at least four days per week. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction.

Responsibilities

• Designs, develops, and maintains high-performance backend services using modern C# and .NET frameworks to support generative AI features at scale.
• Collaborates with stakeholders to determine user requirements for backend systems and contributes to the development of design documents with minimal oversight.
• Works on prompt engineering and tuning to optimize large language model outputs for search and answer generation scenarios.
• Contributes to efforts to break down larger work items into smaller work items, provides estimation, and drives planning and delivery of new feature areas.
• Acts as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) working on-call to monitor system/service for degradation, downtime, or interruptions and gains approval to restore service for simple problems.
• Remains current in skills by investing time and effort into staying abreast of developments in distributed systems, AI/ML technologies, and cloud services to improve availability, reliability, efficiency, and performance of products.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 2+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 3+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 5+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience.

#MicrosoftAI

Software Engineering IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $100,600 - $199,000 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 $131,400 - $215,400 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.