Principal Software Engineering Manager
Microsoft · Posted Oct 1
Software, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and hardware services
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About the role
The Microsoft Windows & Devices (W+D) team delivers experiences across hardware, software, and services, with W+D Silicon and Fundamentals focused on excellent Fundamentals and AI experiences that blend the Edge with the cloud. The team works on AI, silicon, and software, including Windows ML, DirectML, ONNX Runtime execution providers, and on-device AI for Copilot+ PCs. This role sets technical and execution direction while building and growing a high-performing engineering team, with end-to-end ownership across people, technology, and delivery and a mandate to drive AI-forward engineering practices at scale.
What you will do
- Lead, coach, and support a team of Software Engineers by providing clear expectations, regular feedback, and career guidance through one-on-one connections, mentoring, and performance discussions.
- Set and align technical direction and execution plans by partnering with Product Managers and cross-functional stakeholders to translate customer needs and business priorities into engineering plans.
- Support operational excellence and delivery consistency by reinforcing engineering fundamentals, planning practices, and coordinated response to incidents and live-site issues.
- Leverage customer feedback, telemetry, and product usage data to identify improvement opportunities, prioritize investments, and guide teams toward long-term Windows Fundamentals enhancements.
- Establish and reinforce engineering practices for design reviews, code reviews, testing, and continuous integration to support secure, maintainable, and scalable solutions.
- Provide technical guidance and escalation support by working with engineers on complex diagnostics using debugging tools, performance analysis, and code-level investigation, and representing the team in cross-organization discussions.
- Foster a customer-focused and inclusive team environment where engineers understand customer impact, collaborate across teams, and take shared ownership of outcomes that matter to customers.
- Champion AI‑assisted and agentic engineering workflows across the org; set standards and expectations so teams use AI to move faster without compromising security or quality.
- Establish guardrails and best practices for responsible use of AI tools—ensuring correctness, security, privacy, and compliance.
- Encourage teams to use AI to:
- Accelerate root‑cause analysis and debugging
- Improve test coverage and validation
- Reduce toil through automation and repeatable workflows
- Partner with AI‑forward initiatives across Windows to scale learnings, patterns, and reusable assets.
Skills used in this role
What the employer is looking for
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related technical field AND 12+ years in AI/ML software or systems engineering
- 4+ years of people management experience, including hiring and developing engineering teams
- Act as the primary bridge between model development teams, software API engineers, and Microsoft ecosystem stakeholders to define feature acceptance thresholds and validation gating.
- Lead the design and delivery of internal tools that automate the measurement of accuracy degradation (e.g., drift in quantized INT4/INT8 models) and API-level performance overheads.
- Align engineering metrics with the Windows AI Foundry, DirectML, and ONNX Runtime specifications to ensure flawless execution providers.
- Establish regression tracking systems to evaluate how model updates alter API response latencies, memory footprint, and user-experience quality across Windows PC form factors.
- Strong technical background in systems, platform, on-device AI experiences with the ability to guide architecture and technical decisions.
- Strong familiarity with the Windows ML architecture, DirectML, and implementing Execution Providers (EPs) within ONNX Runtime
- Proven track record of working side-by-side with model training/fine-tuning teams and application-layer software engineers
- Familiarity with Windows architecture, OS fundamentals, and On Device AI concepts.
- Familiarity with scripting or automation to support operational efficiency and repeatable processes.
Preferred qualifications
- 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.
Benefits and support
- Compensation and benefits are detailed in the job posting
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products, services, and hardware devices. Best known for its Windows operating systems, Microsoft 365 productivity suite, and Xbox gaming consoles, the company has expanded heavily into enterprise cloud computing via Azure and advanced artificial intelligence solutions. As one of the world's most valuable public enterprises, it empowers individuals and businesses globally through innovative digital transformation.
- Industry
- Software
- Company size
- 228,000+ employees
- Founded
- April 4, 1975
- Location
- Redmond, Washington, USA
- Funding stage
- Public Company
Leadership
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Vice Chair and President
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