Software Engineer
Microsoft
Listing collected from Microsoft's career site. NextChapter is independent of Microsoft.
Mountain View, CA · $85k–$168k a year · Posted October 29, 2026
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Where Mountain View, CA ranks
Where Mountain View, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for AI-skill jobs45% · of 100
- #1Best cities for AI-skill jobs in the West Coast45% · of 71
- #1Best cities for mid-career professionals in the West Coast68% · of 71
- #1Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals in the West Coast85 / 100 · of 39
- #1Best all-round cities for AI careers in the West Coast96 / 100 · of 39
- #2Best cities for finance pay after cost of living$161k · of 35
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 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%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $126,750 a year. Across 816 open software engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $150,000 to $247,000 and the median is $192,500. That is 34% below the median, below the middle half of those listings.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
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 2 layoff notices in the last twelve months, covering 882 workers, most recently September 2026. These are public filings with state labor departments, and an open role can sit alongside them. See the filings
Skills this job asks for
Say which you have and which you want to build. We use it to match you to jobs like this one.
About the job
Overview
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.
Our Global Secure Access Datapath team builds cutting-edge network security solutions that enable enterprises to protect their most critical assets in a cloud-first, AI-powered world. This role offers the chance to work on high-scale, identity-aware services that power Microsoft Entra and deliver Zero Trust principles globally. You’ll design and develop systems that secure millions of users and workloads, while integrating AI-driven insights and automation to make security smarter and more adaptive. Your work will directly influence Microsoft Copilot experiences by ensuring secure, reliable access to data and services. At Microsoft, you’ll find a culture that values growth mindset, collaboration, and innovation—where your ideas make an impact and your career can thrive.
Responsibilities
Design and build large-scale, distributed data path services for secure access across Microsoft Entra.
Develops performant, reliable, and secure networking components that handle identity-aware traffic at global scale.
Integrates AI-driven telemetry and automation to enhance security, reliability, and performance.
Collaborates with cross-functional teams to deliver end-to-end solutions aligned with Zero Trust principles and Copilot scenarios.
Drives engineering excellence through code reviews, telemetry-driven decisions, and modern DevOps practices.
Improves test coverage, implement integration tests, and ensure observability and reliability for live services.
Participates in on-call rotations to support and resolve live-site issues.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience 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:
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, or related technical field AND 1+ year(s) technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python. OR Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field with proven experience coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python.
OR equivalent experience.
Experience with Distributed Services
Knowledge of L7 proxies (e.g., NGINX, Envoy, HAProxy), L3/L4 firewalls and DPDK.
Familiarity with continuous delivery/deployment systems and modern DevOps practices.
Experience leveraging AI/ML for telemetry analysis or automation in large-scale systems.
Software Engineering IC2 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $85,400 - $168,100 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 $111,100 - $183,700 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.