The Azure Container Networking group is re-imagining how hyper scale orchestrators—Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Container Apps (ACA), serverless platforms, and tomorrow’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) native runtimes—connect, protect, and observe billions of containers in real time. Our charter is to deliver lightning fast networking foundations that empower critical enterprise customers to innovate with confidence while meeting the unprecedented demands of large scale AI workloads. As a **Principal Software Engineer** you will architect and build next generation frameworks that provision connectivity, deep observability, and layered security across distributed container fleets. Your work will span dataplane and control plane services, high performance extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF) based datapaths, and cloud Application Programming Interface (APIs) that integrate seamlessly with open source projects like Cilium and Retina. You will also drive an agentic AI platform that reasons over massive telemetry streams to automatically troubleshoot, optimize, and harden the network—enabling “AI for AI” orchestration at cloud scale. 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 lead scalable, resilient networking services powering AKS, ACA, and emerging serverless/AI runtimes. + Develop eBPF driven connectivity, observability, and security extensions in collaboration with the Cilium/Retina Open Source Software (OSS) communities; contribute code, design docs, and upstream RFCs. + Build agentic AI systems that ingest multi cloud telemetry, apply Large Language Model (LLM) based reasoning, and drive automated remediation, capacity planning, and threat detection. + Influence architecture across Azure Networking, Compute, and AI Platform teams, ensuring seamless customer experiences and enterprise grade reliability. + Mentor and technically lead engineers; foster an inclusive, growth mindset culture centered on open source excellence and customer obsession. + Partner with product, PM, and field teams to deliver features end to end, from ideation to production rollout and global adoption. + Holds accountability as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI), mentoring engineers across products/solutions, working on-call to monitor system/product/service for degradation, downtime, or interruptions. + Other: + Embody our Culture (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about/corporate-values) and Values (https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/culture) **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, Go, Rust or Python + OR equivalent experience. + 5+ years of experience designing large-scale, mission-critical cloud services that meet rigorous goals for latency, throughput, and availability. + 3+ years of expertise in container and Kubernetes networking (CNI, eBPF, service meshes, ingress/egress controls). + 2+ years of experience contributing to major open source projects (preferably Cilium, eBPF, Kubernetes, or similar). + Experience fostering cross-team collaboration, communicating technical concepts clearly, and supporting the success of both customers and engineering teams. **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. **Additional or Preferred Qualifications:** + Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science + OR related technical field AND 10+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Rust OR Python + OR 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, Go, Rust or Python + OR equivalent experience. + 1+ year(s) of experience applying AI/ML techniques (LLMs, anomaly detection, reinforcement learning) to systems or networking domains is strongly preferred. Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 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 - $304,200 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay Microsoft will accept applications for the role until August 11, 2025. \#azurecorejobs Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html) .