Principal Software Engineer

Microsoft's Ads Engineering team is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to advance their core ad serving stack capabilities. This role focuses on developing high-scale, low-latency, geo-distributed systems that power advertisements across Microsoft services including Bing Search, MSN, Start.com, and Edge browser shopping experiences.

The position offers unique challenges in designing and optimizing performance-critical systems operating at massive scale. You'll work with large-scale machine learning inference for ad ranking, real-time bidding infrastructure, and various subsystems supporting diverse ad scenarios. The role requires expertise in native C++ programming, distributed systems architecture, and performance optimization.

As a Principal Engineer, you'll lead architecture discussions, mentor team members, and drive engineering excellence. You'll be responsible for maintaining high availability of critical services and implementing features with a focus on code quality and scalability. The role involves collaboration with global teams and requires a balance of technical expertise with leadership skills.

The compensation is competitive, with a base salary range of $139,900 - $274,800 USD (higher in SF Bay Area and NYC). Microsoft offers comprehensive benefits including healthcare, educational resources, investment options, and generous parental leave. The position offers hybrid work flexibility with up to 50% work from home option and requires 0-25% travel.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a seasoned engineer who enjoys solving complex technical challenges at scale while working with cutting-edge advertising technology and machine learning systems. You'll be part of a world-class engineering team, owning major feature areas and contributing to Microsoft's mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.