Xbox Software Engineering Specialist Apprentice

The Xbox Certification team sit at the forefront of ensuring game quality across the various Microsoft Gaming platforms. We are in the unique position of ensuring all titles releasing on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Windows meat a set quality bar and correctly integrate into our various system features such as achievements, invites and suspend resume. Our team will test all titles before they release to check for various Xbox requirements (published here). Additionally, after titles release our Game Reliability Engineering program will monitor various data metrics on the quality performance of titles in the hands of end users. As a result of this monitoring, we will inform partners of any concerning indicators such as high crash rates. 

To support our testing and monitoring processes we have developed several bespoke internal tooling solutions. As an apprentice in the team, you will be supporting the maintenance of our existing tooling and the development of exiting new solutions. 

As we move forward with new technologies you will have the opportunity to contribute towards developing new AI enhanced test automation systems that will be able to tackle some unique and challenging obstacles that we have traditionally faced within our testing configuration. Within our data monitoring solutions, you will be able to develop new smarter monitoring techniques utilizing anomaly detection and other machine learning techniques. 

Responsibilities

• Work within a team to develop software to track and assist our testers 

• Use and develop C# programming skills 

• Learn to work with Azure hosted enterprise applications 

• Collaboration across disciplines to understand the scope of the feature 

• Iterate features using feedback from end users 

• Utilize GPT and other AI models to provide assistive technologies 

• Develop bespoke system prompts to utilize GPTs text and visual capabilities to help testers identify bugs and guidance on how to test 

• Integrate AI models into our automation scripting framework to create dynamically adjusting automation steps 

• Integrate Machine Learning algorithms into our data monitoring systems 

• Utilize both off the shelf and create bespoke solutions to analyse telemetry gathered from end users 

• Plug these solutions into our data processing pipelines to generate alerting and reports for game developer and publishers. 

Being a Microsoft Apprentice 

As a Microsoft Apprentice, you will have the opportunity to start your career early, earn while you learn, and gain valuable experience. We believe in providing real responsibility from the outset, with an employment contract for the full duration of your apprenticeship. You will be an integral part of the team, contributing to meaningful projects and initiatives to drive impact. 

What to Expect: 
Support and Guidance: You will be fully supported by an apprentice buddy, your manager, and fellow team members. Our managers are trained and ready to support you throughout your apprenticeship programme. 

Learning and Development: You will spend time away from your job training and growing your knowledge, which you will then apply to your day-to-day role. You will complete work-based assignments and participate in modules aligned with your job responsibilities. 

Community and Inclusion: You will be part of a vibrant and inclusive apprentice community. You will have opportunities to give back through our community programmes through our Employee Resource Groups  

Career Growth: At Microsoft, we are committed to your growth and development. You will have access to industry-leading innovation and resources to help you succeed in your role and beyond. 

Start date: September 2025 

Level: AI and Data Science Apprenticeship (Level 7)

You must be legally authorised (have citizenship or a valid visa/work permit) to work in the UK to be eligible for this role. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Complete Science, Software Engineering or related field, or, Level 6 Apprenticeship in Software Engineering.
• Experience writing code in a least one language. 

• Creative thinking. 

• Logic and problem-solving skills. 

• Ability to effectively communicate with a diverse range of people. 

• Experience processing and handling data streams. 
• You must be legally authorised (have citizenship or a valid visa/work permit) to work in the UK to be eligible for this role.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.