Principal Software Engineer - Copilot Security

Copilot Security is at the core of Microsoft's mission to deliver trusted, human-centered AI experiences. We make security and resilience intrinsic to every Copilot interaction-across devices, platforms, and ecosystems. Our work spans secure identity flows, defenses against emerging threats like prompt injection, and privacy-first systems that scale globally.

Copilot for consumers is entering a new era of agentic AI-where intelligent agents act on behalf of users across Windows, Edge, web, and mobile. We're seeking a hands-on Principal Software Engineer to lead the development of security features and innovative solutions that harness agentic AI to both protect our customers and enable new agentic capabilities in Copilot. You'll design, build, and ship AI-powered defenses, secure orchestration frameworks, and enabling technologies that empower Copilot to act safely and responsibly at scale. This role demands deep engineering expertise, creativity in applying agentic AI to security challenges, and a passion for building systems that balance innovation with trust.

Why This Role Matters:

Your work will directly shape how hundreds of millions of users experience safe, trustworthy, and innovative AI.You'llbe at the forefront of defining how agentic AI can proactively defend users, mitigate emerging threats, and unlock new secure scenarios-making a global impact on Microsoft's most transformative products.

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.

Starting January 26, 2026, MAI employees are expected to work from a designated Microsoft office at least four days a week if they live within 50 miles (U.S.) or 25 miles (non-U.S., country-specific) of that location. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction.

• Develop and ship agentic AI-powered security featuresthat proactivelyprotect users from threats such as prompt injection, adversarial manipulation, and abuse of agentic workflows.
• Design and implement secure orchestration frameworks that enable Copilot to safely delegate, coordinate, and execute actions across devices, services, and platforms.
• Invent andapplynewintelligentagentsthatleverageinformation flow analysis andapply common sense and judgementguardrailsfor security and privacy.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, security, privacy, and AI teams to drive adoption of agentic security patterns and best practices across Copilot and MAI.
• Establish andmonitorkey metrics for agentic AI security and innovation, using data-driven insights to continuously improve defenses and enablement.
• Align with central Microsoft security and AI roadmaps, influencing platform capabilities and landing them in Copilot and MAI consumer scenarios.
• Document and evangelize secure agentic AI patterns, ensuring they address novel risks, support safe delegation, and enable responsible orchestration of actions.
• Mentor engineers and foster a culture of secure innovation, balancing rapid development with rigorous protection for customers.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor'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 equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master'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 Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 8+ years in technical engineering roles building large-scale services.
• 6+yearshands-on experience designing and operating security-critical or AI-powered systems at scale, including agentic AI, secure orchestration, or advanced threat defenses.
• Proven ability to design, build, and ship agentic AI features or frameworks
• Ability to clearly explain complexsystemsand security concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders and influence cross-org roadmaps.
• Experience building production agent systems using frameworks such as LangGraph, Amazon Strands SDK, or similar platforms; familiarity with agentic design patterns including tool calling, multi-agent coordination, and secure delegation patterns
• Hands-on experience with distributed training frameworks (Ray, Slurm, HPC), containerization and orchestration technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) for ML model deployment, and ML lifecycle management in production environments
• Experience designing evaluation frameworks for LLM-based applications and implementing observability for agent systems using tools such as Phoenix, MLFlow, LangFuse, or custom eval harnesses; understanding of AI safety evaluation methodologies including adversarial testing and red-teaming
• Experience integrating with Azure AI services, Azure OpenAI Service, or Microsoft security platforms (Azure AD, Defender, Purview).
• Track record of mentoring experienced engineers, driving adoption of secure agentic AI standards across product teams, and influencing technical roadmaps while balancing innovation velocity with fundamentals.

#MicrosoftAI

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 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 $188,000 - $304,200 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.