Storage System Technical Lead

The Cloud Hardware and System Engineering (CHSE team) are looking for a Principal Hardware Engineer to serve as the Storage System Technical Lead (STL) providing end-to-end technical leadership for development next-generation Azure storage hardware platforms. The STL bridges architecture and execution maintains technical continuity across the program development and validation lifecycle phases and ensures that hardware firmware software validation manufacturing and operational workstreams converge into a complete high-quality system solution. The STL owns end-to-end technical execution cross-functional integration design quality technical readiness and program-level technical decisions within the approved baseline. The STL also provides technical input and impact assessment for program decisions while preserving the ownership of functional engineering and program-management teams.

As Azure grows to support increasingly data-intensive cloud and AI workloads storage infrastructure must deliver greater capacity performance availability serviceability security and cost efficiency at global scale. The CHSE team defines and delivers the systems engineering required to bring new cloud hardware platforms from concept through qualification deployment and fleet operations. This role will provide system-level technical leadership for Azure storage hardware aligning architecture platform design firmware validation manufacturing and operations around an executable end-to-end strategy.

CHSE sits within the broader Microsoft Silicon Cloud Hardware and Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) that designs and delivers the silicon hardware systems firmware software and other and foundational technologies that power Microsoft Azure. Our teams work across silicon servers storage networking accelerators datacenters security and operations to build infrastructure that is reliable efficient secure and scalable for Microsofts global cloud services. We are looking for engineers who want to shape the next generation of cloud infrastructure and deliver trusted experiences for customers worldwide.

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• Provide end-to-end system technical leadership for Azure storage platforms during hardware development and validation translating approved requirements and architecture into an executable cross-functional technical strategy.

• Drive timely program-level technical decisions across hardware firmware software validation manufacturing datacenter integration and operations balancing performance capacity reliability availability serviceability security power cost schedule and implementation risk.

• Establish the quality bar for system specifications subsystem interfaces design documentation design reviews validation strategies test plans and launch criteria and maintain traceability from requirements through validation and deployment evidence.

• Identify integration gaps and assess new unique difficult or differentiated technologies and features across subsystems suppliers and lifecycle phases; define dependencies owners risks mitigations validation needs and closure criteria.

• Lead or sponsor system design reviews with Microsoft engineering teams silicon and component partners and original design manufacturers (ODMs) and confirm that qualification interoperability and manufacturing test coverage address system requirements and risks.

• Lead cross-functional resolution of complex issues found during design bring-up validation manufacturing deployment or fleet operation driving root cause corrective action verified closure and propagation of fixes and lessons learned.

• Partner with the Technical Program Manager and Product Owner to assess the technical impact of proposed changes drive milestone readiness provide technical approvals defined by program governance and communicate concise status risks decisions and help-needed items to leadership.

• Collaborate across architecture silicon electrical mechanical thermal power firmware operating systems validation systems engineering manufacturing supply chain datacenter engineering operations suppliers ODMs and customer-facing teams to align subsystem decisions resolve cross-domain dependencies and deliver an integrated storage platform.

Required Qualifications:

• Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering Computer Engineering Mechanical Engineering or related field AND 7 years technical engineering experience OR Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering Computer Engineering Mechanical Engineering or related field AND 8 years technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience.

Other Requirements:

• 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.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Extensive experience designing or developing storage hardware platforms including storage head nodes just a bunch of disks (JBOD) just a bunch of flash (JBOF) or comparable high-capacity storage systems and integrating hardware firmware and operating systems.

• Experience leading cross-functional technical decisions storage-system validation strategies and resolution of complex system-level issues.

• Broad technical understanding across electrical design signal integrity mechanical design thermal engineering power delivery processors memory storage networking system management security and industry standards.

• Experience developing high-capacity or high-availability storage systems and familiarity with storage controllers PCIe NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs) hard-disk drives (HDDs) SAS Ethernet and related system interfaces.

• Experience evaluating integrating or debugging high-speed interfaces such as PCIe DDR Ethernet SAS or comparable technologies at the system level.

• Knowledge of system firmware including BIOS baseboard management controllers (BMCs) system management protocols telemetry update recovery and security considerations.

• Knowledge of Windows Linux or other operating-system interactions with server and storage hardware.

• Experience integrating silicon systems on chip (SoCs) field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) controllers or other complex components into high-volume systems.

• Experience working with ODMs silicon suppliers component suppliers manufacturing partners and geographically distributed engineering teams.

• Experience taking complex hardware platforms through architecture design bring-up validation manufacturing deployment and sustained operation.

• Experience debugging complex system-level issues and driving root cause corrective action validation and cross-platform fix propagation.

• Understanding of datacenter deployment serviceability fleet operations reliability and infrastructure operation at scale.

• Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions across organizational boundaries without relying on direct management authority.

• Proven written verbal and executive communication skills including the ability to explain complex technical tradeoffs risks decisions and help-needed items clearly.

Hardware Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142800 - $274800 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 $188000 - $304200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
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.

Required Experience:

IC