Principal Software Engineer

Overview

The Windows Enterprise and Security (ENS) team builds foundational capabilities that keep the Windows client and server operating systems secure and trusted at global scale. ENS spans core Windows security investments such as hardware-backed security, cryptography, identity and authentication, and enterprise-grade management capabilities—critical to keeping Windows dependable for customers across enterprises and governments.

Why this role / impact

Work on security and enterprise capabilities that protect billions of Windows users and the enterprises that depend on Windows. Build foundational security and management features that shape Windows’ trust model and long-term platform resilience. 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

Security & OS Feature Engineering

• Design and implement Windows security and enterprise capabilities that ship at scale across client and/or server.
• Build features across foundational areas such as hardware-backed security, cryptography, identity/authentication, and enterprise management experiences.

Engineering Excellence (Quality, Reliability, Operability)

• Produce robust, testable, maintainable code with strong engineering rigor, including diagnostics and operational readiness suitable for global rollout.
• Partner with security and platform stakeholders to ensure designs align to secure-by-default principles and meet compliance/assurance expectations.

Cross-team Collaboration & Delivery

• Collaborate with ENS partner teams in Redmond and across Windows engineering to deliver shared roadmaps and aligned technical outcomes.
• Drive end-to-end execution: requirements → design → implementation → validation → deployment, with an ownership mindset.

AI Forward Engineering

• Leverage AI assisted and agentic engineering workflows to accelerate design, debugging, testing, and documentation—while maintaining strict verification and security quality bars.
• Establish reusable patterns (e.g., prompt/playbook snippets, validation checklists, automation hooks) that make AI usage repeatable and safe for the team.
• Improve Engineering Efficiency By Applying AI To Root cause analysis and debugging, Test generation and validation strategy, Automation to reduce recurring toil.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications:

• 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, JavaScript, or Python.
• Solid experience building and shipping production software in one or more systems languages (e.g., C/C++/C#/Rust) and debugging complex systems.
• Experience in one or more: platform security, cryptography, identity/authentication, secure boot/TPM, device security, enterprise policy/management, licensing/entitlement systems.
• Experience designing and developing features in large-scale, performance-sensitive systems, ideally with Windows / OS / systems depth.

Preferred Qualifications

• Public Key Cryptography/Post Quantum Cryptography(PQC).
• Track record of driving engineering quality: testing strategy, telemetry, reliability, and operational excellence.
• Comfort partnering across geographies and influencing designs with stakeholders across engineering.