M

Microsoft

Builds workplace software, PCs and cloud services

Principal Software Engineer - Distributed Systems

Full-Time
CA$142.4k - CA$257.5k/yr
Senior
Bachelor's, Master's
Vancouver, BC, Canada
In Person
Software Engineering

About the job

Requirements
  • 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
  • 5+ years professional experience in enterprise level distributed systems
  • Ability 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: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
Responsibilities
  • Leads by example within the team by producing extensible and maintainable. Optimizes, debugs, refactors, and reuses code to improve performance and maintainability, effectiveness, and return on investment (ROI). Applies metrics to drive the quality and stability of code, as well as appropriate coding patterns and best practices.
  • Applies debugging tools and examines logs, telemetry, and other methods to verify assumptions through writing and developing code proactively before issues occur and reactively as issues occur for products. Conducts retrospective debugging of solutions to identify root causes of problems.
  • Reviews the code of a product to assure it meets the team's and Microsoft’s quality standards, is reliable and accurate, and is appropriate for the scale of the product/solution area. Applies feedback to current and future iterations. Participates in code reviews to ensure coding standards are followed. Considers diagnosability, reliability, and maintainability when reviewing code, and understands when code is ready to be shared or delivered. Applies and screens for coding patterns and best practices in reviews, and provides feedback on code to drive adherence to best practices.
  • Leads discussions for the architecture of products/solutions and creates proposals for architecture by testing design hypotheses and helping to refine code plans. Provides reactions, proposed solutions, and inputs to architects. Partially owns solutions for architecting of solutions, with minimal technical oversight. Develops design documents for designs or User Stories, and determines the technology that will be leveraged and how it will interact. Shares learnings and identified solutions from investigations with the team and owns for some design decisions. Assures system architecture meets security and compliance requirements and expectations.
  • Independently creates a clear and articulated plan for testing and assuring quality of solutions, and defines success for outcomes of tests (e.g., unit tests). Identifies needs for a broad versus selected approach in testing mechanisms and makes informed decisions to implement the most effective tests. Drives efforts to add new tests, remove antiquated tests, and aggregate tests to improve the test suite. Improves recommendations to the team and augments test cases to ensure that solutions have good test coverage. Drives efforts to continually integrate automation features when planning for testing.
  • Drives identification of dependencies and the development of design documents for a product, application, service or platform. Identifies other teams and technologies that will be leveraged, how they will interact, and when one's own system may provide support to others. Determines back-end dependencies associated with product, application, service, or platform functionality for the solution/product area. Understands up and downstream effects of solutions and work provided to ensure appropriate security and performance, drives reliability in the solutions, and optimizes dependency chains and retrieves across teams.
  • Collaborates with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., project manager, technical lead) to align on user requirements for a scenario. Leverages a variety of feedback channels to incorporate insights into future designs or solution fixes. Ensures appropriate continuous feedback loops measuring customer value, usage patterns, and other actionable metrics of value are incorporated.
  • Embody our culture and values
Desired Qualifications
  • 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
  • 5+ years professional experience in enterprise level distributed systems

About the company

Microsoft builds workplace software, operating systems and cloud infrastructure for consumers, businesses and government agencies, from small organizations to global enterprises. Microsoft 365 combines Word and Excel with Teams communication and Copilot AI features, while Windows runs PCs and Surface supplies the company's own computers. Azure rents computing capacity, storage and databases to build and run web applications. Microsoft also sells Xbox consoles and games, collecting revenue through software licenses, subscriptions, usage charges and product sales. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Redmond, Washington

Founded

1975

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • US corporate staff receive education support: eligible, approved graduate coursework qualifies for up to $10,000 annually.
  • Cloud demand expands: July 2026 results showed Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 43% year-over-year in fiscal Q4.
  • Investment has an earnings cushion: July 2026 results reported $155.2 billion consolidated operating profit for fiscal 2026.

What critics are saying

  • Performance reviews include security: every Microsoft employee must discuss their security contribution with their manager.
  • Office flexibility depends on the role: Microsoft's postings specify requirements ranging from fully remote to fully on-site.
  • Cloud capacity faces local limits: Microsoft describes power-grid delays and water constraints affecting US datacenter expansion.

What makes Microsoft unique

  • Hybrid customers stay within reach: Azure Arc manages servers across customer datacenters and competing clouds.
  • Developer reach extends beyond Azure: Microsoft's GitHub hosts code collaboration alongside AI coding tools.
  • Professional data widens its business: Microsoft owns LinkedIn's recruiting, advertising and workplace-learning network.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k) Company Match

Professional Development Budget

Conference Attendance Budget

Flexible Work Hours

Remote Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

0%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

0%
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