About the Role

Principal Software Engineer role focused on building AI-driven autonomous systems for Microsoft Azure's global optical backbone. Responsibilities include designing distributed software systems, developing AI agents for network automation, and creating control services for safe decision-making. This position requires expertise in systems engineering, network automation, and AI-native infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement highly available distributed software systems for Azure's optical network
• Develop AI-driven agents and orchestration platforms for autonomous network operations
• Create micro-control planes and context services for AI system awareness
• Collaborate with optical, switching, and AI infrastructure teams for end-to-end solutions
• Drive engineering rigor through metrics, observability, and continuous validation

Required Skills & Qualifications

Must Have:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience
• 6+ years building production software for network automation and operations
• 4+ years designing and running distributed, highly available services at scale
• 3+ years with Secure-by-design mindset and proven leadership of cross-functional efforts

Nice to Have:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 10+ years experience OR Master's Degree AND 8+ years experience
• AI Context Engineering experience with embeddings, vector stores, and feature pipelines
• AI Agent Development experience with evaluation methods and safety guardrails
• Control & Workflow Expertise with MCP/eServices-style control planes

Benefits & Perks

• Industry leading healthcare