Principal Software Engineering Manager - Cryptographic Agility & Quantum-Safe Security

Overview

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.

Microsoft Security is committed to making the world a safer place by empowering organizations to protect their digital assets against evolving cyber threats. Through continuous innovation and a growth mindset, we build cutting-edge security solutions that help customers stay ahead of emerging challenges. The Compass group addresses one of the most critical emerging challenges in cybersecurity: securing cryptographic infrastructure in the AI and quantum era. Driven by evolving threats, growing customer demand, and increasing regulatory requirements, organizations must gain visibility, control, and protection over their cryptographic assets while preparing for a quantum-safe future. To address this challenge, Microsoft Security is establishing a new product group to build the next generation of cryptographic security solutions, from continuous discovery and risk assessment to AI-driven remediation and post-quantum readiness. Working closely with teams across Microsoft, we have a unique opportunity to shape a new product from the ground up, bringing together expertise in cybersecurity, AI, cryptography, and cloud-scale engineering to deliver solutions with global impact.

This role offers a rare opportunity to build a team and a product from day one, influence a strategic Microsoft investment, and help build security solutions with global impact. 

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. In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Responsibilities

As a Principal Software Engineering Manager in the Compass group, you will lead the engineering organization building a new security product from 0 to 1. This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You'll be a builder yourself: you'll prototype, write code, test new ideas and tools, and ship things with your own hands. You'll also grow the team into a team of builders.
You will hire and grow a high-performing team, set architecture and technical direction, and deliver cloud-scale, AI-driven security capabilities to production. You will partner closely with Product, Security Research, and cross-Microsoft engineering teams to turn strategy into execution and measurable customer impact.

• Lead as a builder: stay close to the code by prototyping, testing new technologies and AI tools, and building things yourself to inform technical decisions and set the bar.
• Grow a team of builders: create a culture where every engineer experiments, ships quickly, and owns outcomes end to end.
• Show the way through your own work.Build the team, operating model, and engineering culture from the ground up.Drive execution against ambitious goals with clear priorities, accountability, and delivery rigor.
• Hire, coach, and develop engineers and future technical leaders, with a focus on hands-on builders and a strong bias for action.
• Partner with Product and leadership on roadmap, scope, and long-term growth.Influence partner teams across Microsoft to unblock dependencies and deliver shared outcomes.

Qualifications

We value diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We recognize that no candidate has every desired skill, and we believe diverse teams drive stronger innovation and better outcomes. - B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, including 4+ years managing software engineering teams (hiring, coaching, and growing engineers).
• Proven track record of leading teams to design, deliver, and operate complex, cloud-scale services or distributed systems in production.
• Strong hands-on technical background in distributed systems and cloud architecture, with the ability to set technical direction and lead architecture and design decisions.
• A builder at heart: you still prototype, write code, and try out new technologies and tools yourself. You're comfortable going from idea to working prototype on your own.
• Proven ability to build a culture of builders, where engineers experiment, iterate quickly, and own outcomes end to end.
• Demonstrated ability to drive execution in ambiguous, fast-changing environments and to influence stakeholders and partner teams across organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Experience building a new team or product from scratch in a 0-to-1 or startup-like environment.
• Recent hands-on experience building with AI, such as LLMs, agents, or AI-assisted development tools. This could be personal projects, prototypes, or production work.
• Experience leading teams that build AI, LLM, or agentic workflow capabilities.
• Experience scaling a team and growing other managers or technical leaders.
• Experience building cybersecurity products, cloud security platforms, or security posture and exposure management solutions.
• Hands-on experience with cryptographic infrastructure and lifecycle management (PKI, keys/certificates, HSMs, KMS, crypto libraries).
  
  
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This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

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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.