Senior Software Engineer

Overview

Join the Windows Cloud Experiences team and be at the forefront of redefining how people connect to and interact with their Windows environments, anytime, anywhere, from any device. We're building the next-generation remote desktop experience, and we're looking for bold, creative engineers to help us push the boundaries of what's possible.

As a Senior Software Engineer working on Windows desktop remoting, you will get an amazing opportunity to demonstrate leadership at both technology and business level. You will be part of a diverse, fast growing and agile team working with a motivated team of graphics remoting engineers and product managers. Our culture is more like a startup - we will do what is necessary to help customers be successful, move fast, and have fun building meaningful products and services!

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

• Design and optimize remote desktop experiences with a focus on high fidelity and ultra-low latency for interactive workloads across diverse network conditions.
• Collaborate on protocol enhancements (RDP) to improve throughput, reduce jitter, and ensure adaptive streaming for remote desktop environments.
• Develop and maintain advanced media pipelines leveraging modern codecs (e.g., H.264, HEVC) for efficient video compression and decoding in real-time scenarios.
• Champion a customer-first and live site mindset by proactively monitoring service health, responding to incidents, and driving improvements based on customer feedback and telemetry.
• Drive cross-platform integration ensuring interoperability between Windows clients, virtualized environments, and cloud-hosted desktops.
• Foster a culture of excellence and continuous learning by encouraging experimentation, knowledge sharing, and adoption of industry-wide best practices within the team and broader engineering community.
• Identify Areas for Improvement by analyzing customer feedback, incident data, and telemetry -- focusing on reliability, scalability, and maintainability of remote desktop features.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python.
• OR equivalent experience.

Other Requirements: Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree in Computer Science OR related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++.

• OR Masters Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++.

• OR equivalent experience.

• Experience in Windows 2D or 3D graphics.

• Experience in Desktop Remoting and/or video codecs (h.264, h.265, etc.).

• Familiarity with Windows DirectX and Windows Internals / Windows OS concepts.

• Development Experience with Azure Cloud Services.

#W+DJOBS

Software Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200 - $261,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.