{"id":2374986,"url":"https://alion.io/job/microsoft-principal-ai-engineering-manager","title":"Principal AI Engineering Manager","company":{"id":18,"name":"Microsoft","domain":"microsoft.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/microsoft","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Eightfold","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":116,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-15T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Leadership","role_family":"Leadership","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Washington, United States","Atlanta, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":142800,"max":274800,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":274800},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":12,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"Azure","optional":false},{"name":"C#","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"JavaScript","optional":false},{"name":"LLM","optional":false},{"name":"Multi-Agent Systems","optional":false},{"name":"Platform Engineering","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"RAG","optional":false},{"name":"OpenAI","optional":true},{"name":"Prompt Engineering","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-09T19:48:48Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-12","last_verified_at":"2026-10-15T14:37:27Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":5,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":5},"description":"OverviewAre you a customer-obsessed, AI-curious engineering leader who thrives in an inclusive, collaborative global team? The Azure Engineering Operations (EngOps) team's mission is to transform Microsoft Cloud customers into fans. Through our deep engineering engagements with customers and teams across Microsoft, we analyze and amplify customer needs and drive the vision to improve Cloud quality, security, and reliability. Our culture of growth mindset and empowerment are central to who we are and how we work.\nOur ACES engineering team is building domain specific agents and services that are fundamentally transforming Azure customer support - from reactive, human-only workflows to AI-first systems that resolve customer issues at Azure scale. We are seeking a Principal Applied AI Engineering Manager to build and lead a high-performing AI engineering pod focused on shipping production agentic AI services. You will own the engineering execution for next-generation AI agents - LLM orchestration, multi-agent coordination, RAG-based systems, and evaluation frameworks - that handle thousands of customer cases per month and drive measurable volume reduction across Azure.\nThis is a leadership role building production AI services that directly impact millions of Azure customers. You will build the team, set the technical direction, own the delivery, and be accountable for engineering outcomes.\nEvery day, our customers stake their business and reputation on our cloud. You can help Azure EngOps provide our customers with the world-class cloud services they need to succeed.\nMicrosoft'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.\nResponsibilities\nKey Responsibilities\nBuild and lead the AI engineering pod- Hire, coach, and develop a team of Applied AI Engineers; foster an inclusive, high-trust culture where engineers ship production AI services with ownership and velocity.\n\nOwn engineering execution for agentic AI services- Drive the end-to-end lifecycle of production AI agents from spec to deployment, including LLM orchestration, multi-agent workflows, RAG pipelines, and evaluation systems.\n\nSet technical direction and engineering standards- Define architecture patterns, code quality bar, evaluation frameworks, deployment practices, and observability standards for the AI engineering pod. Ensure production-quality C# and Python with TDD, CI/CD, staged rollouts, and full observability.\n\nOwn production health and reliability- Ensure deployed AI agents meet quality, performance, and safety standards. Drive incident response, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement for agent systems in production.\n\nBuild and maintain evaluation systems- Establish evaluation frameworks including rubrics, golden datasets, and judge agents to validate agent correctness and safety before and after production deployment. Ensure agents graduate through shadow mode to autonomous operation with eval gates at each stage.\n\nInfluence product and platform roadmaps- Partner with product, platform engineering, and Azure service teams to shape the agentic AI platform direction. Translate customer support patterns and demand signals into engineering priorities.\n\nDrive measurable business impact- Own KPIs including case volume reduction, automation accuracy, resolution time improvement, and customer satisfaction impact. Use data-driven insights to set OKRs and demonstrate engineering ROI.\n\nEnsure responsible AI and compliance- Partner with AI Governance to embed responsible AI practices, PII protection, action boundaries, and audit trails into all agent systems architecturally.\n\nDevelop engineering talent- Mentor engineers on applied AI engineering craft, including agentic system design, evaluation-driven development, and the judgment to know where agents should and should not act autonomously. Build career growth paths across AI engineering competencies.\n\nQualifications\nRequired Qualifications\nMaster'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, JavaScript, 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, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.\nPreferred Qualifications\n8+ years in software engineering or applied AI roles, with 3+ years in people management leading technical engineering teams. \nProven ability to hire, coach, and develop high-performing engineering teams; experience driving inclusion and career growth. \nStrong proficiency in Python and C# with hands-on experience building production AI/ML systems. \nExperience with LLM-based systems, including prompt engineering, RAG architectures, or agent frameworks. \nExperience with cloud platforms (Azure) and cloud-native service development (microservices, containers, CI/CD). \nDemonstrated success owning end-to-end engineering delivery - from architecture through production operations. \nOperational rigor with experience setting OKRs, tracking engineering KPIs, and improving service reliability metrics. \nOther:\nAbility to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements is required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following specialized security screening: Microsoft Cloud Background Check. This position is required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.\nPreferred Qualifications\nMaster's degree in Computer Science, AI, or related field. \nExperience building and shipping multi-agent orchestration systems or agentic AI services in production. \nExperience with AI evaluation frameworks (rubrics, golden datasets, judge agents, offline/online eval). \nExperience with Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, or similar enterprise AI platforms. \nFamiliarity with agent security patterns (prompt injection defense, tool access controls, data boundary enforcement). \nExperience leading co-development or cross-org engineering delivery with multiple partner teams. \nStrong business acumen with ability to tie engineering investments to measurable customer and business outcomes (volume reduction, resolution time, CSAT). \nExperience influencing product engineering roadmaps and driving cross-functional collaboration at scale. \nBackground in customer support engineering, supportability, or customer experience platforms is a strong plus. \n#EngOps #EngOpsACES\nSoftware Engineering M5 - 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.\nCertain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:\nhttps://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay\nThis position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.\nMicrosoft 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. 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