Senior Software Engineer - CTJ - Poly
Microsoft
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Redmond, WA · Posted October 27, 2026
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Where Redmond, WA ranks
Where Redmond, WA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best all-round cities for new graduates77 / 100 · of 100
- #1Best all-round cities for new graduates in the West Coast81 / 100 · of 36
- #2Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Pacific Northwest677 openings · of 14
- #2Best cities for media and entertainment pay after cost of living$158k · of 9
- #3Best cities for pay after cost of living$195k · of 100
- #3Best cities for AI-skill jobs in the Pacific Northwest18% · of 16
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,318 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
Pay compared with the market
This listing does not state pay. Across 1,035 open senior software engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $170,000 to $222,500 and the median is $199,000.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Senior Software Engineer salaries by state · Check your own pay
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among software developers, AI is already used for some of the tasks. Measured exposure for software developers: 29% (some).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Microsoft has filed 3 layoff notices in the last twelve months, covering 924 workers, most recently September 2026. These are public WARN filings with state labor departments, and an open role can sit alongside them. See the filings
About the job
Overview
Are you interested in working on cutting-edge cloud security products? Would you like to be part of one of the world’s most advanced cyber-security solutions and protect millions of computers from thousands of active attack attempts, every month? Look no further than the Microsoft Defender engineering team.
Defender is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our team. You will be building and delivering cloud solutions to meet the scale that few companies in the industry are required to support. Leveraging state-of-the-art technologies, you will be instrumental in delivering holistic protection within government environments. The Microsoft Defender team is responsible for delivering a constantly evolving set of services and solutions to meet the challenging landscape of our ever-evolving attackers.
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
Build and improve services to be scalable and highly reliable.
Help deliver and improve engineering systems and practices to deliver services in complex cloud environments.
Contribute to design and automate service scale features and customer requirements.
Investigate pre-production and production issues, implement, and deploy fixes.
Participate in an on-call rotation (typically 24/7 for one week every 6-8 weeks) within a secure facility.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor's 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:
Security Clearance Requirements: Candidates must be able 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:
The successful candidate must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret Clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) based on a Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) with Polygraph. Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required pre-offer and post-hire for this role. Failure to maintain or obtain the appropriate U.S. Government clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination.
Clearance Verification : This position requires successful verification of the stated security clearance to meet federal government customer requirements. You will be asked to provide clearance verification information prior to an offer of employment.
Microsoft Cloud Background Check : This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
Citizenship & Citizenship Verification : This position requires verification of U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports United States federal, state, and/or local United States government agency customer and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by applicable law. To meet this legal requirement, citizenship will be verified via a valid passport, or other approved documents, or verified US government Clearance
Preferred Qualifications:
Master's 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++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR Bachelor's 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++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
OR equivalent experience.
Understanding and experience with CI/CD concepts and Git
Some exposure or working knowledge with Docker, Kubernetes or other containerization technologies
Some exposure or working knowledge with building and supporting large-scale production services, including logging, monitoring, alerting, and measuring reliability and availability
Demonstrated communication skills and ability to collaborate in a multi-disciplinary team consisting of Software Engineers, Program Managers, Security Researchers, and Data Scientists
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.