Senior AI Network Systems Engineer
Microsoft Corporation · Redmond, WA
$119,800–$234,700from the description
Jul 17, 2026
Redmond, WA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role sits within Microsoft's cloud hardware engineering organization and centers on building and validating large-scale AI networking infrastructure. Day-to-day work spans designing and troubleshooting Layer 3/4 networking, RDMA-based fabrics, congestion management, and transport behavior across hyperscale AI training and inference clusters. It suits engineers with deep hands-on experience in data center networking, accelerator systems, and performance characterization who are comfortable working across silicon, firmware, and software teams.
Senior level · 5+ years · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Full-time
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 340 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 70–510
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
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 (8)
The role is a genuine hybrid between deep networking infrastructure engineering (15-1244) and software/tooling development (15-1252). The JD explicitly requires building automation, observability tools, validation frameworks, and diagnostic tooling — code-shipping work — which tips the classification to 15-1252, but 15-1244 is a strong runner-up given the heavy focus on operating and validating physical network infrastructure.
The degree requirement accepts a Bachelor's + 5 years, a Master's + 3 years, or equivalent experience, so no minimum degree is hard-gated.
The 5-year experience floors are stated at the role/domain level (accelerator-based networking, Ethernet infrastructure, AI/HPC/cloud deployments) and are captured in the overall years minimum; they are not tied to a single named technology.
The Microsoft Cloud Background Check is a post-hire screening requirement, not a US government security clearance gate, so the clearance requirement is set to None.
The posting lists a higher pay band for San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metro ($160,200–$261,000/year); the figures captured here are the standard US-wide range.
All preferred qualifications (RDMA, RoCE, ECN, PFC, DCQCN, SONiC, SmartNICs, DPUs, Ultra Ethernet, packet analysis, telemetry, automation) appear under an explicit 'Preferred Qualifications' heading.
The IC4 level tag in the posting corresponds to Microsoft's Senior individual-contributor band, consistent with the 'Senior' title.
Ignored 3 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): congestion management, packet analysis, network automation.
Read the full posting
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