AdTechTalent
Engineering138 days agoOn-site

Microsoft

Principal Software Engineer

AImachine learningreinforcement learningdistributed systemsauto-biddingreal-time decision-makingcloud infrastructureMLOpsApache SparkApache Flinktechnical leadbidding platformauction platform

Key details

Salary

Not specified

Employment type

Full-time

Seniority

Senior

Years experience

10+

Location

Mountain View, California, United States; Redmond, Washington, United States

Full job description

Microsoft Advertising is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to develop and lead the next-generation agentic auto-bidding platform using AI, machine learning, and large-scale distributed systems. The role involves collaborating with data scientists and product teams, architecting scalable AI-driven bidding systems, building data validation frameworks, managing operational excellence, and mentoring engineers. Candidates must have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field with 6+ years of engineering experience coding in C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python. Preferred qualifications include a Master's degree or equivalent experience, 4+ years with streaming platforms like Apache Spark or Flink, 4+ years as a technical lead, 7+ years developing large-scale distributed systems, and expertise in MLOps and bidding/auction platforms. The position requires passing Microsoft Cloud background checks. Locations include Redmond, Washington and Mountain View, California. Salary ranges from $139,900 to $331,200 depending on level and location.

What you'll do

  • Collaborate with data scientists, ML engineers, and product teams to define requirements for agentic AI-driven bidding capabilities
  • Architect and implement the next-generation agentic bidding platform enabling AI agents to monitor marketplace signals and optimize bidding strategies
  • Build large-scale data validation and quality frameworks to ensure correctness, consistency, and reliability across auction-critical signals
  • Act as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) driving operational excellence, incident management, on-call readiness, and high-availability practices
  • Develop experimentation and simulation frameworks to validate agent behavior and optimize policies before deployment
  • Proactively adopt new patterns, technologies, and engineering practices to improve availability, efficiency, performance, and scalability
  • Set technical direction, mentor engineers, and foster a culture of high-quality execution, innovation, and accountability
  • Explore and invest in emerging AI techniques such as multi-agent systems and adaptive optimization

Requirements

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience
  • Preferred: Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience OR Bachelor's Degree AND 12+ years experience OR equivalent experience
  • 4+ years of hands-on experience with large-scale streaming platforms such as Apache Spark or Flink
  • 4+ years of experience as a technical lead, including mentoring and guiding engineers
  • 7+ years of experience developing and deploying large-scale distributed systems in production environments
  • 7+ years of hands-on experience in machine learning operations (MLOps), including pipeline automation, monitoring, and lifecycle management
  • Domain knowledge and experience building large scale distributed bidding or auction platforms
  • Experience building real world applications using AI techniques
  • Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements including Microsoft Cloud Background Check

Tech stack

CC++C#JavaJavaScriptPythonApache SparkApache FlinkAImachine learningreinforcement learninglarge-scale distributed systemsMLOps

Benefits

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensationLink to additional benefits and pay information: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

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