Overview
Come build community, explore your passions, and do your best work at Microsoft. This opportunity allows you to bring your aspirations, talent, and excitement for the journey ahead while contributing to cloud-scale systems used by customers around the world. At Microsoft, we are learn-it-alls rather than know-it-alls. Our culture embraces a growth mindset, inspires excellence, and empowers teams to bring their best each day. If you thrive in collaborative environments and enjoy solving deep technical challenges, you'll feel right at home.
As a Software Engineer on the Azure Hyperscale team, you will help build the next generation of cloud-native, highly scalable database infrastructure that powers mission-critical applications across industries. Hyperscale's architecture decouples compute, log, and storage to deliver rapid restores, instant backups, elastic scaling, and consistently high performance. You'll work across distributed compute nodes, page servers, log services, and Azure Storage-contributing to systems that must maintain exceptional availability, reliability, and throughput.
You'll develop backend and distributed systems code that supports advanced database engine internals, performance optimization, telemetry pipelines, and emerging cloud-native capabilities such as vector search and AI-driven features. You'll collaborate with stakeholders to define requirements, integrate feedback, and deliver maintainable, extensible code through strong testing, logging, and debugging practices.
This opportunity provides hands-on exposure to database internals, distributed systems, scalable compute and storage architecture, and advanced performance engineering. You'll learn how Hyperscale integrates with Azure SQL Database at global scale, applying innovative algorithms to solve complex compute, storage, and data challenges.
Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.
Responsibilities
Learns to break down engineering work into actionable tasks in collaboration with stakeholders, provides estimates, and escalates risks or delays as needed. Supports feature deployments across Hyperscale compute, log, and storage components while following safe and reliable deployment practices.
Collaborates with cross-functional partners to define feature requirements and incorporate customer, performance, and operational feedback into design iterations. Establishes feedback loops using telemetry and metrics to improve reliability, availability, and scalability across distributed database systems.
Learns and applies coding standards through code reviews, developing maintainable and extensible backend or systems-level code with guidance from senior engineers. Uses debugging tools, logs, and deep telemetry to proactively and reactively diagnose issues in database internals, compute nodes, page servers, and storage services.
Supports documentation of dependencies and contributes to design discussions for cloud-native database features-including distributed algorithms, performance optimizations, logging pipelines, and high-availability mechanisms. Assists with building proto@types, validating technical hypotheses, and integrating automation into test and validation workflows.
Participates in live service operations and acts as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) within defined scope to help monitor, troubleshoot, and restore service health across Hyperscale compute and storage layers, ensuring rapid and reliable recovery in alignment with SLAs.
Develops and applies best practices for secure, scalable, and performant data systems, learning how Hyperscale achieves innovations such as elastic scaling, instant backups, and rapid restore across decoupled compute, log, and storage services.
Ensures solutions meet Microsoft standards for security, privacy, safety, and accessibility. Leverages developer tools and automated pipelines to improve availability, observability, efficiency, and performance across distributed database infrastructure.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience coding in languages including, but not limited to, C++, Python, or Rust,
OR equivalent experience.
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
Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field with proven experience coding in languages including, but not limited to, C++, Python, or Rust,
OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 1+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C++, Python, or Rust,
OR equivalent experience.
Experience in database systems, distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and/or performance engineering.
Understanding of core computer science concepts, including data structures, algorithms, operating systems, and/or database internals, and familiarity with tools like Git, debuggers, and/or telemetry systems.
Interest in cloud-native databases, Hyperscale architecture, and/or emerging capabilities such as vector search, AI-assisted features, and/or scalable compute/storage design.
IC2SWE #EiP
Software Engineering IC2 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $84,200 - $165,200 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 $109,000 - $180,400 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
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. (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html)
