Principal Software Engineer

As a Principal Software Engineer on the Microsoft Teams AI Agents and Copilot team you will lead the design development and evolution of scalable backend systems that power intelligent agent-driven experiences Microsoft Teams supports over 300 million daily active users globally enabling seamless collaboration productivity and communication across work and life It also serves as a robust platform for ISVs to build and extend applications and agents within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem We are looking for a visionary engineering leader to drive the next wave of innovation in Copilot and AI agent development In this role you will architect and deliver backend services that enable contextual assistance proactive insights and triage capabilities across messaging apps and collaborative content transforming how users interact with Teams in an AI-first world You will play a pivotal role in shaping how users engage with high-volume information designing systems that are performant reliable and extensible Your work will directly influence the productivity and engagement of a diverse global user base You ll collaborate across disciplines engineering product design and research to deliver high-quality resilient software solutions If you thrive in a fast-paced startup-like environment and are passionate about technical excellence thought leadership and building systems that scale this is the team for you Responsibilities Architect and implement end-to-end solutions across backend services AI agents and frontend experiences using modern frameworks and technologies to deliver intelligent scalable and resilient systems Drive performance scalability and cost efficiency by optimizing existing infrastructure and services to meet the demands of a global user base Design and maintain robust APIs that enable seamless integration with frontend components and partner services ensuring fluid and consistent user experiences across Teams and the Microsoft 365 ecosystem Develop intelligent observability and recovery tools to monitor AI agent behaviour Copilot responsiveness and backend service health enabling proactive diagnostics performance tuning and resilient user experiences Collaborate cross-functionally with product managers partner engineers data scientists and leadership to define and deliver impactful features that elevate productivity and engagement through Copilot and AI agents Champion security and privacy compliance ensuring all solutions meet Microsoft s standards for trust governance and responsible AI Qualifications Required Qualifications Bachelor s or Master s degree in Computer Science Engineering or a related field with 10 years of experience in backend systems design and development Proven expertise in object-oriented programming using languages such as C Java Python or Node js with a strong focus on building scalable distributed services Deep understanding of algorithms data structures cloud-native architecture and microservices Hands-on experience with SQL and NoSQL databases and designing data models for high-scale low-latency applications Strong proficiency in building and consuming RESTful APIs and deploying services on cloud platforms like Azure AWS or GCP Familiarity with CI CD pipelines infrastructure-as-code and automated deployment strategies Experience in livesite operations including debugging customer issues incident management and service recovery Excellent communication and collaboration skills with a track record of working across disciplines to deliver impactful solutions Passion for technical innovation continuous learning and mentoring others Experience with large language models LLMs prompt engineering and AI ML pipelines Exposure to Copilot agentic workflows or AI-driven user experiences is a strong plus Understanding of responsible AI principles including privacy security and ethical considerations in AI system design 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 Bachelor s Degree in Computer Science OR related technical field AND 10 years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including but not limited to C Java Python or Node js OR Master s Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 10 years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including but not limited to C Java Python or Node js OR equivalent experience 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 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 Teams