Principal Software Engineer Manager

** Overview*
* The  
** Server Ecosystem
** team within  
** Windows Ecosystem and Customer Engagements (WECE)
** team works across the Windows server ecosystem to enable partners and customers to successfully build, deploy, and scale solutions on Microsoft platforms. WECE partners closely with product teams, engineering, and the ecosystem to remove friction, accelerate readiness, and drive real-world customer and partner outcomes.

Across WECE, we are building scalable, AI-powered enablement experiences that help Microsoft's hardware partners self-serve, onboard, troubleshoot, and succeed across Microsoft technologies.

We are seeking a  
** Principal Software Engineer Manager
** to lead a team of engineers responsible for building and operating AI-powered enablement tools and platforms while engaging deeply with the Windows hardware ecosystem. In this role, you will drive execution across both engineering delivery and partner collaboration, working closely with Server OEM, ODM, IHV, and silicon partners to ensure platform readiness and ecosystem success.

This position combines hands-on leadership of software development with strategic partner engagement - serving as the bridge between partner requirements and the engineering solutions we deliver. You will lead the design, development, and continuous improvement of scalable services, while guiding your team to translate partner feedback into high-quality, production-ready capabilities that accelerate ecosystem adoption. 

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*
* + Lead AI-Native Engineering Practices Across the SDLC by Driving disciplined adoption of AI-assisted development across requirements, design, coding, and testing. Ensure accountability for AI-generated artifacts and embed Responsible AI, security, and compliance controls into engineering workflows and outputs.

+ Lead end-to-end delivery and live-site operations of partner-facing services and AI-enabled platforms, ensuring high availability, scalability, and operational excellence. Apply expertise in Azure application development, including AuthN/AuthZ, storage, networking, containerized services, and CI/CD pipelines, to build secure, resilient systems. Leverage telemetry, trace data, and failure analysis to improve reliability and reduce incident recurrence.

+ Establish high standards for secure, testable, and maintainable code through rigorous code reviews, automated validation, and AI-assisted engineering practices. Lead root cause analysis using diagnostic data, enforcing solid test coverage and improving diagnosability, telemetry, and debugging effectiveness.

+ Guide architecture and design decisions for complex systems, ensuring alignment with security, privacy, compliance, performance, and cost requirements. Embed observability as first-class design principles, leveraging data and experimentation to validate and optimize solutions.

+ Serve as the primary technical leader for strategic hardware ecosystem partners (OEMs, ODMs, IHVs, silicon vendors), driving platform readiness and technical enablement for Windows platform releases. Apply knowledge of Windows internals to analyze diagnostic data (trace files, crash dumps), resolve complex issues, unblock critical scenarios, and improve overall device and solution quality.

+ Synthesize partner feedback, usage patterns, and system telemetry-including real-world diagnostic data-into actionable insights that inform product roadmaps and AI-powered enablement features. Define and track success metrics to drive prioritization, validate feature effectiveness, and improve partner experience outcomes.

+ Drive execution across complex initiatives, managing risks, dependencies, and deliverables through structured planning and data-driven decision-making. Serve as a senior escalation point for both…