Principal Software Engineer

Overview

Join the Quality, Reliability, and Telemetry (QRT) team and help reinvent how Windows is tested, validated, and proven across the broader hardware ecosystem. Our charter is to ensure Windows builds and updates land safely, predictably, and at scale across a growing set of third-party OEM, silicon, firmware, driver, and software configurations.

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead automation and deep Windows platform quality in the Customer Experience Review (CER) Lab. You will define a productized validation capability for Microsoft labs and third-party partners, including OEM self-assessment, shared automation, repeatable test collateral, and decision-ready reporting.

You will turn ambiguous ecosystem quality problems into durable architectures, standards, and roadmaps. You will guide engineers through difficult Windows debugging, system internals, driver, reliability, and orchestration challenges while keeping the platform secure, extensible, observable, and practical to operate.

You will partner with data engineering, data science, and analytics teams to define telemetry and evidence that turns failures into actionable issues. You will establish responsible use of generative AI, agents, and Model Context Protocol (MCP)-based workflows while preserving deterministic test execution.

You will set the technical direction for end-to-end Windows validation across the third-party ecosystem, including:

• A productized validation platform and OEM self-assessment package that can be deployed, versioned, supported, and measured across Microsoft and partner environments.
• A common architecture for station control, harnesses, runners, scheduling, device orchestration, and result aggregation.
• Diagnostics for Windows kernel, driver, firmware, deployment, power, performance, reliability, and cross-layer failures.
• Evidence pipelines that make results comparable and support release, remediation, prioritization, and investment decisions.
• AI-assisted capabilities that expand coverage and accelerate analysis without replacing deterministic scenarios or accountable judgment.

This role is less about owning a single feature and more about creating the technical foundation, operating model, and engineering culture for a validation capability used across the Windows ecosystem.

• We optimize for early signal, measurable customer outcomes, and clear ownership.
• We build tools and test products that reduce partner friction rather than add process.
• We expect principal engineers to lead through influence, make sound decisions under ambiguity, and raise the technical capability of the organization.
• We are AI-forward, with clear boundaries between deterministic validation and AI-assisted authoring, diagnosis, and operations.
• We value pragmatic engineering: simple where possible, robust where required, and measurable in production.

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

• Define and communicate the multi-year technical vision, architecture, and engineering roadmap for Lab automation, productized test collateral, and OEM self-assessment.
• Lead adoption and extension of the platform, creating reference patterns that work across diverse OEM hardware, silicon, firmware, drivers, and Windows configurations.
• Drive architecture and design reviews for station control, distributed orchestration, packaging, versioning, security, telemetry, result services, and partner integration.
• Resolve systemic and high-severity technical problems through deep Windows debugging, kernel and system internals analysis, driver diagnostics, and cross-layer root-cause investigation.
• Establish engineering standards for reliability, security, privacy, observability, supportability, test determinism, and operational excellence.
• Partner with data engineering, data science, and analytics leaders to define trustworthy schemas, signals, quality bars, and decision-ready reporting.
• Set the strategy and guardrails for AI-assisted test authoring, anomaly detection, failure classification, log analysis, bug filing, and developer workflows.
• Influence and align WSSI, WSD, WECE, Surface, Windows engineering, Selfhost, Fundamentals, AppCompat, and OEM partners on requirements, interfaces, and success measures.
• Mentor senior and early-in-career engineers, create technical growth opportunities, and raise the bar for design quality, code quality, debugging depth, and end-to-end ownership.
• Use architecture, technical judgment, and measurable outcomes to guide quarterly planning, investment tradeoffs, and prioritization across multiple workstreams.

Required 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated technical leadership of a complex platform, distributed system, developer infrastructure, or validation product used by multiple teams or external partners.
• Experience productizing and operating packaged test collateral, lab automation, or self-service validation capabilities at scale.
• Experience defining architecture and operational standards for device orchestration, telemetry, logging, tracing, result aggregation, security, and reliability.
• Recent hands-on use of generative AI models and agents for software engineering, test authoring, diagnosis, process acceleration, and developer productivity, with sound judgment about appropriate guardrails.
• Proven ability to influence senior technical stakeholders, resolve ambiguity, communicate complex decisions clearly, and drive alignment across organizations.
• Track record of mentoring engineers, strengthening engineering culture, and delivering customer-focused outcomes through others as well as through direct technical contribution.

• #W+DJOBS
• #WINDOWS

Pay and benefits

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $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:

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.