Principal Software Engineering Manager - Substrate- CTJ- Secret (Cleared Environments)

Overview

Microsoft Substrate is the foundational cloud platform that powers many of Microsoft’s most critical services including Exchange Online and M365 Copilot , providing shared infrastructure, identity, messaging, storage, and service-to-service capabilities used across Microsoft 365 and related cloud offerings. Substrate services operate at global scale and are designed to deliver high availability, reliability, security, and compliance for some of the world’s most demanding workloads.

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineering Manager to lead a mixed organization of Site Reliability Engineers and Software Engineers responsible for building and operating Substrate services across highly regulated and enterprise-critical environments. This role requires strong technical depth, operational judgment, and people leadership, with the ability to scale impact through managers while remaining deeply connected to engineering fundamentals and service health.

As a principal-level manager, you will define and drive technical and organizational strategy, grow senior engineering leaders, and partner across engineering, security, compliance, and operations to ensure Substrate services are reliable by design. You will be accountable for delivering durable engineering systems, strong operational posture, and a healthy, high-performing organization that can sustain long-term business growth.

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

• Lead and develop Site Reliability Engineering Managers , coaching them to build strong, accountable SRE organizations and scale operational excellence through others.

• Lead a set of Software Engineering ICs , ensuring strong software engineering fundamentals, clear technical direction, and high-quality execution across the engineering lifecycle.

• Own the end-to-end engineering and operational health of your organization’s services, balancing feature delivery, reliability, security, and compliance.

• Establish and drive technical and organizational strategy for your area, aligning engineering investments with business priorities and long-term platform goals.

• Guide engineering design and architecture decisions , ensuring reliability, diagnosability, security, and compliance are embedded early and consistently.

• Drive strong incident management, learning culture, and post-incident reviews , emphasizing systemic improvements and long-term resilience.

• Develop senior and principal-level talent , including succession planning for managers and technical leaders.

• Partner closely with product, security, compliance, infrastructure, and operations teams to deliver durable, auditable, and scalable services .

• Communicate clearly and credibly with leadership, articulating risks, tradeoffs, priorities, and progress across technical and organizational dimensions.

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 Requirements:

Security Clearance Requirements

Candidates must be able to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following specialized security screenings:

This role requires access to Microsoft Government cloud environments , including GCC Moderate (GCCM), GCC High (GCCH), and Department of Defense (DoD) environments. As a result, the successful candidate must be able to obtain and maintain the appropriate background investigations and customer screenings required for access to these environments.

• For access to GCCH and DoD environments , this role requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorably adjudicated Tier 3 (T3) background investigation .

• For access to GCCM environments , this role requires the ability to meet Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) eligibility requirements.

For manager-level roles , a Tier 5 (T5) background investigation is preferred , as certain approval authorities and operational responsibilities require this level of screening.

Candidates may be considered without currently holding these background investigations , provided they are eligible for and able to successfully obtain them . Candidates may begin work while required background investigations are in progress; however, failure to obtain or maintain the appropriate clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination .

In addition, this position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter .

Preferred 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.

• 4+ years people management experience.

• Experience operating or supporting services in regulated, sovereign, or compliance-sensitive environments .

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800.00 - $274,800.00 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 $188,000.00 - $304,200.00 per year.

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

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. (