Principal Software Engineer - CTJ - POLY
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 11, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 20, 2026. Microsoft scores B on the Alion truth index.
Do you enjoy solving problems, writing software, and working with customers? Do you want to join a team where learning about new technology is part of our work every day? Then, come join us! The Microsoft Frontier Company team team is a global engineering organization that works directly with customers looking to leverage the latest technologies to address their toughest challenges.
This position involves working directly with government customers whose mission-critical environments require specialized security clearances and Mission Partner Organization (MPO) access.
We work closely with our customers’ engineers to jointly develop code for cloud-based solutions that can accelerate their organization. We work in collaboration with Microsoft product teams, partners, and open-source communities to empower our customers to do more with the cloud. We develop solutions side-by-side with our customers through collaborative innovation to solve their challenges. This work involves the development of broadly applicable, high-impact solution patterns and open-source software assets that contribute to the Microsoft platform.
We are hiring a Principal Software Engineer with deep experience and expertise in designing and delivering solutions using modern software engineering practices and cloud technologies. You will be part of a cross-functional team of software engineers, data scientists, technical program managers, and designers who work side-by-side with high-impact and strategic customers and their engineers to build innovative solutions.
As part of our team, you will thrive in working with a variety of technologies, not just Microsoft technology. You will solve exciting business problems, contribute to open source, and collaborate with Microsoft product teams.
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
Partners with appropriate stakeholders to determine user requirements for a set of scenarios.
Leads identification of dependencies and the development of design documents for a product, application, service, or platform.
Leads by example and mentors others to produce extensible and maintainable code used across products.
Leverages subject-matter expertise of cross-product features with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., project managers) to drive multiple group's project plans, release plans, and work items.
Holds accountability as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI), mentoring engineers across products/solutions, working on-call to monitor system/product/service for degradation, downtime, or interruptions.
Proactively seeks new knowledge and adapts to new trends, technical solutions, and patterns that will improve the availability, reliability, efficiency, observability, and performance of products while also driving consistency in monitoring and operations at scale and shares knowledge with other engineers.
Qualifications
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, JavaScript, or Python
- OR equivalent experience.
Other Qualifications:
Security Clearance Requirements: Candidates must be able 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:
- The successful candidate must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret Clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) based on a Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) with Polygraph. Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required pre-offer and post-hire for this role. Failure to maintain or obtain the appropriate U.S. Government clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination.
- Clearance Verification: This position requires successful verification of the stated security
clearance to meet federal government customer requirements. You will be asked to provide clearance verification information prior to an offer of employment.
- Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
- Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This position requires verification of U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports United States federal, state, and/or local United States government agency customer and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by applicable law. To meet this legal requirement, citizenship will be verified via a valid passport, or other approved documents, or verified US government Clearance.
Preferred Qualifications:
Candidates with an active Full Scope Polygraph (FSP) who are currently indoctrinated and authorized for MPO (Mission Partner Organization) access are preferred.
- 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, 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.
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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.