Principal Software Engineer

Overview Azure Storage is the foundation for some of the world’s largest cloud, data, and AI workloads. The Table team builds the foundational metadata and indexing systems that power Azure Storage, including Azure Blob Storage and Azure Data Lake Storage.

Join us as we build the next generation of these systems, designed to manage metadata for trillions of objects and exabyte-scale storage. You will help rethink and design the core table and metadata primitives that make this scale possible, including partitioning, indexing, transactions, consistency, logging, replication, caching, and high-performance read/write paths.

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will provide technical leadership for the architecture and development of the next generation of Azure Storage’s table and metadata systems. You will apply deep expertise in table systems, metadata services, key-value stores, storage engines, or distributed storage to solve challenging problems in scale, latency, availability, and efficiency.

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

• Lead the architecture and development of next-generation table, metadata, and indexing systems that form a foundational layer of Azure Storage
• Design and evolve core table and metadata primitives, including partitioning, indexing, transactions, consistency, logging, replication, caching, and high-performance read and write paths
• Solve complex distributed-systems challenges required to manage metadata for trillions of objects and exabyte-scale storage, balancing scale, latency, availability, reliability, and efficiency
• Drive architectural decisions across multiple components and system boundaries, taking foundational technologies from design and prototyping through production at cloud scale
• Identify and deliver significant improvements in performance, scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency through deep analysis of system architecture and critical data paths
• Design core table and metadata primitives that operate at extraordinary cloud scale. Drive cross-system architectural decisions and take ambitious ideas from design through production.

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, Rust, or Python
• OR equivalent experience

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:

• Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, Rust, or Python
• OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, Rust or Python
• OR equivalent experience
• 5+ years of experience designing or developing distributed storage, database, or large-scale distributed systems.
• 3+ years of experience designing or optimizing indexing, partitioning, caching, consistency, or data access mechanisms in distributed systems.
• 3+ years of experience diagnosing and optimizing performance, scalability, concurrency, or reliability of production systems.

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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:

https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

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.