Software Engineer 2(Substrate Core Foundation team)

Would you be excited to drive major changes to a scale service that is critical to the company? Substrate is the data and intelligence platform that enables internal partner teams at Microsoft to build, deploy, and maintain compliant productivity apps and services with reduced effort and faster time to market. We work closely with partners across M365 to enable critical suite-wide scenarios.

The Substrate Core Foundation team is at the heart of Microsoft 365’s infrastructure, powering mission-critical services that serve billions of users. We are seeking a technically strong and visionary Software Engineer 2 to help build COSMIC AURA—an AI-first orchestration platform that will redefine how Microsoft optimizes runtime capacity, workload placement, and operational efficiency across the M365 fleet.

This is a high-impact role where you’ll work at the intersection of AI, cloud infrastructure, and systems engineering to unlock stranded Azure capacity, reduce COGS, and drive hyperscale agility.

 

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

• Design and implement intelligent orchestration systems that leverage multi-agent AI to optimize workload placement and runtime allocation.
• Build intelligent data pipelines and decision engines that monitor Azure regional signals and recommend dynamic workload shifts.
• Develop automation for disaster recovery shaping and failover strategies that meet resiliency and performance standards.
• Drive technical excellence through code reviews, design and test automation.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 2+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of software development experience, including 2+ years in distributed systems.
• Proven track record of shipping services through multiple releases.
  
• Experience with Azure or equivalent cloud platforms.
  
• Proficiency in Python; familiarity with LLM/agent frameworks (e.g., LangChain, Transformers) is a plus.
  
• Strong collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills in agile environments.

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:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
  • OR related technical field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 2+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience.

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.

 

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