Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, WA
$142,800–$274,800from the description
Jul 11, 2026
Redmond, WA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A people-manager engineering role focused on building and leading a team that delivers AI-powered automation for legal and corporate affairs workflow systems. Day-to-day work spans defining a product roadmap for those AI solutions, overseeing their design, development, deployment, and ongoing governance, and ensuring they meet security and responsible-AI standards. The role suits an experienced software engineer with a background in managing engineering teams and shipping production AI or software systems.
Senior level · 6+ 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 2,000 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (computer and information systems managers). range 1,500–2,600
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 $219,401 (middle half $175,322–$306,147). 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 (8)
The role carries explicit people management responsibilities (team building, performance management, coaching engineers and vendors), making 11-3021 the primary SOC; however, the JD also emphasizes hands-on technical leadership, architecture, and code review, so 15-1252 is a genuine runner-up.
The job title is 'Software Engineering M5' — an internal Microsoft level designation with no standard seniority label. The role is classified as Senior based on scope (owns roadmap, manages a team, leads architecture), not the level number alone.
The required coding languages (C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python) are listed as interchangeable alternatives; Python is used as the primary name with the others captured as alternatives.
4+ years of people management experience appears under Preferred Qualifications, not Required — it is listed as preferred.
AI/ML, Responsible AI, and CI/CD appear throughout the responsibilities narrative rather than in a hard-requirements section, so they are marked preferred.
The posting lists a higher pay band for San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metro ($188,000–$304,200/year); the figures captured reflect the standard US-wide range. The role's primary location is inferred as Redmond/Seattle (Microsoft HQ) but is not explicitly stated.
Equivalent experience is explicitly accepted in lieu of a Bachelor's degree, so the degree requirement is set to None.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): people management.
Read the full posting
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