Senior Software Engineer
Microsoft Corporation · Redmond, WA
$119,800–$234,700from the description
Jun 30, 2026
Redmond, WA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A software engineering role on Microsoft's advertising platform, focused on designing and building highly scalable backend services that support online ad delivery and e-commerce marketing automation. Day-to-day work spans feature development, architectural improvements, debugging, and cross-team collaboration, with some expectation of mentoring other engineers. Suits experienced backend engineers with a background in distributed systems and cloud platforms.
Mid level · 4+ years · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 18,400 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 13,800–23,900
Applicant volume Heavy — This req sits in a large pool with little in its requirements to thin it, and auto-apply tools fire at everything in the occupation. Applying early and leading with the rare skills below is what gets read.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $170,959 (middle half $135,720–$216,519). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
The job title is 'Software Engineering IC4', which is Microsoft's internal level designation. IC4 at Microsoft typically maps to Senior Software Engineer, but the minimum required qualifications gate on only 4+ years of experience with a Bachelor's degree — consistent with a Mid-level role. Seniority is assessed as Mid based on the hard-required floor; the advertised title carries no standard level word.
The base pay range of $119,800–$234,700/year is the standard U.S. range; a higher range of $160,200–$261,000/year applies specifically to the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metro areas.
The degree requirement is set to None because the JD explicitly accepts 'equivalent experience' in lieu of a Bachelor's degree.
The Microsoft Cloud Background Check is a standard employment screening, not a US government security clearance — clearance is set to None.
Coding language requirement lists C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, and Python as interchangeable options ('including, but not limited to'); C is used as the primary with the others as alternatives.
Azure, AWS, and distributed systems knowledge appear only under Preferred Qualifications, along with online advertising experience, which is too generic a domain to emit as a named skill.
Read the full posting
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