Principal Software Engineer - Search Systems

Principal Search Architect

Overview

Join the team that powers one of the most heavily used and most visible capabilities in Windows: Search. As Windows evolves into an agent-first, AI-powered operating system, Search is becoming the primary discovery, reasoning, and grounding layer across user journeys and agentic experiences. The Windows AI Platform team is responsible for building the core Search, indexing, and semantic understanding infrastructure that serves more than a billion users worldwide.

This role is for a Principal Software Engineer with deep prior Search experience who will define and drive the architectural direction of Windows Search and related semantic systems, spanning indexing, retrieval, ranking, reliability, and AI-powered experiences.

Role Overview

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will define the long-term technical vision for Windows Search and semantic retrieval systems and building graph data across systems. You will work across engineering, product, and partner teams to ensure Search is reliable at scale, measurable through quality signals, and extensible for future agentic scenarios.

This role blends deep technical expertise in Search systems with cross-org architectural leadership and solid engineering judgment.

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

• Define the long-term architectural direction for Windows Search, including indexing pipelines, retrieval systems, ranking, and semantic enrichment.
• Lead complex, cross-team technical efforts spanning OS components, cloud-assisted pipelines, and on-device AI systems.
• Serve as the architectural authority for Search-related design reviews, tradeoff discussions, and platform decisions.
• Drive architectural clarity across boundaries: Search Platform, Indexer, AI models, telemetry, reliability, and user-facing surfaces.
• Ensure Search systems meet high reliability, performance, and quality bars, informed by telemetry, RQV signals, and customer impact.
• Anticipate future needs for agentic and AI-driven Search, identifying capability gaps and guiding multi-year investments.
• Partner with Product Managers to translate customer scenarios into durable technical primitives and measurable quality signals.
• Mentor senior engineers and architects, raising the bar on design rigor, system thinking, and operational excellence.
• Influence engineering standards, design patterns, and best practices across Search and adjacent platform teams.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum 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.
• Extensive experience defining and evolving end-to-end Search architectures, including ranking, retrieval, graph-based systems, and platform/substrate layers, with a proven track record of setting architectural direction, guiding multiple teams, and shaping long-term platform strategy across organizational boundaries, with solid hands-on knowledge of ranking, retrieval, graph-based systems, and substrate/platform layers that power large-scale discovery and reasoning experiences.
• Deep expertise in indexing, retrieval, ranking, and query processing in production environments.
• Solid systems programming background with languages such as C, C++, or C#.
• Proven ability to define and communicate architectural strategies that guide multi-year engineering investment.
• Demonstrated cross-org leadership, with the ability to influence without authority and align diverse stakeholders.
• Solid problem decomposition skills and comfort operating in ambiguous technical spaces.
• Advanced understanding of AI-assisted Search concepts, including semantic retrieval, embeddings, evaluation, and responsible AI use.
• Exceptional communication and technical storytelling skills.

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:

• 10+ years of experience shipping commercial software or platform technologies at scale.
• Prior experience owning or architecting end-to-end Search platforms (system, web, enterprise, or OS-level).
• Experience with semantic search, vector search, knowledge graphs, or content understanding systems.
• Familiarity with Windows platform internals, diagnostics, and performance tooling.
• Experience designing Search systems that power agentic workflows or AI-driven user experiences.
• Solid track record of improving architectural health, reliability, and operational maturity of complex systems.
• Demonstrated success influencing product and technical direction across multiple organizations.

Why This Role Matters

Search is foundational to how users and agents understand and interact with Windows. As a Search Architect, your work will directly shape discoverability, trust, and productivity across the OS—and enable the next generation of AI-native Windows experiences.

 

 

#W+DJOBS

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.

Experience Level

Senior Level