Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, WA
$119,800–$234,700from the description
Jul 11, 2026
Redmond, WA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior engineering role focused on building and maintaining the internal infrastructure that makes software development faster and more reliable — covering build pipelines, developer tooling, validation workflows, and engineering telemetry. A core part of the work involves weaving AI-driven automation into the development lifecycle. The role suits an experienced engineer comfortable working across large codebases and tooling ecosystems, with a focus on measurable, durable impact at scale.
Mid level · 4+ years · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Full-time
Advertised as Senior, but the requirements read as Mid.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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 19,700 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 14,800–25,600
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 $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 JD is titled 'Senior Software Engineer' and maps to Microsoft's IC4 level, which typically corresponds to a mid-level individual contributor on Microsoft's career ladder (IC4 is the standard 'SWE II' / independent-contributor band). The seniority assessment reflects the actual requirements (4+ years, no cross-org scope) rather than the 'Senior' title.
The programming language requirement lists C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, and Python as examples ('including, but not limited to'), so C is listed as the primary with the others as alternatives. No specific language is singled out as the hard gate.
Build pipelines, developer tooling, validation workflows, and engineering telemetry are described as responsibilities/context rather than gated skill requirements; they are captured as preferred to reflect that no specific named tool or platform is mandated.
The Microsoft Cloud Background Check is a screening requirement, not a US government security clearance, so the clearance requirement is set to None.
A separate, higher pay range of USD $160,200–$261,000/year applies to the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metro areas; the general US range ($119,800–$234,700) is reported as the primary figure.
The degree requirement accepts 'equivalent experience' in lieu of a Bachelor's degree, so the degree requirement is set to None.
Read the full posting
The employer publishes the full description on their own site — read it there ↗. Or sign in to read it here — it's free, and it also lets you track this application.