Software Engineering II (Backend)
Microsoft
Software Engineering
Redmond, WA, USA
The Microsoft 365 Release and Deployment Experiences (RDX) team is responsible for the platform that delivers Office to hundreds of millions of devices worldwide. Our Office Click‑to‑Run (C2R) deployment platform enables reliable delivery of new features, performance improvements, and security updates across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
We build and maintain client‑ and service‑side systems that orchestrate how updates are detected, downloaded, and installed across diverse enterprise environments at global scale. These systems integrate deeply with the Win32 Office client, cloud deployment services, device management platforms, and telemetry infrastructure to ensure safe, reliable, and performant rollout of new software to customers.
We are looking for a Software Engineer II to help design, build, and operate core components of this deployment platform. This role involves development across native client code (C++), cloud‑connected services (C#), and telemetry‑driven experimentation systems that power reliable software delivery across Microsoft 365.
You will collaborate closely with partner teams across Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), Microsoft Intune, Defender, Windows Update, and other various internal platform components and services to improve deployment reliability, update velocity, and customer experience.
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 implement components of the Office deployment platform across native Win32 client and cloud‑connected service layers.
- Develop reliable and maintainable software using C++ and/or C# in a large‑scale production environment.
- Contribute to deployment orchestration systems responsible for detecting, downloading, staging, and applying Office updates on customer devices.
- Partner with service teams to design and integrate backend APIs and distributed services used by update and configuration workflows.
- Leverage telemetry and experimentation frameworks to identify reliability gaps and improve update success rates.
- Investigate and resolve deployment‑related issues impacting customers at scale.
- Participate in feature design, implementation, testing, and rollout across multiple Office client endpoints.
- Collaborate with partner engineering teams to support integration of new update scenarios, servicing models, and deployment capabilities.
- Contribute to engineering fundamentals such as performance, scalability, security, and maintainability of deployment infrastructure.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 2+ 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:
- Experience developing production‑quality services or distributed systems.
- Experience developing applications or services using C++ and/or C#.
- Familiarity with Windows platform development or Win32 applications.
- Experience working with cloud‑connected client platforms or deployment/update systems.
- Experience using telemetry to monitor reliability and improve system behavior.
- Understanding of software deployment, servicing, or update delivery workflows.
- Experience debugging complex system interactions across client‑service boundaries.
Software Engineering IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $100,600 - $199,000 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 $131,400 - $215,400 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.