Senior Software Design Engineer

Microsoft; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 117,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Senior Software Design Engineer passionate about video technologies. This role involves working on low-level drivers and firmware for cutting-edge graphics and video hardware. You will collaborate with internal and external partners to solve complex problems in Xbox video, ensuring high-quality, efficient operating systems. Join a team that values innovation and a growth mindset, where your contributions will directly impact the future of video technology. If you thrive in a dynamic environment and are eager to push the boundaries of video hardware, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in technical engineering with coding in multiple languages.
• Experience contributing to device drivers and kernel programming for consumer electronics.

Responsibilities

• Collaborates with stakeholders to determine user requirements.
• Creates, implements, optimizes, and debugs code for performance improvements.
• Acts as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) to monitor systems.

Skills

C

C++

C#

Java

JavaScript

Python

Device Drivers

Kernel Programming

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

Job description

The Xbox Video team is looking for a Senior Software Design Engineer who is passionate about video and is excited to work on cutting edge hardware. We are responsible for all things video related on Xbox and beyond! You will be working on low-level drivers and firmware interacting with the state-of-the-art graphics and video hardware as well as a variety of video technologies including but not limited to video encode, decode, color processing, motion estimation, rate control etc. You will be a member of an experienced team that is responsible for collaborating with internal and external partners to solve challenging problems in the area of Xbox video. Good understanding of general media concepts is valuable, should be comfortable working on driver and firmware-level code.

In Core OS, we are responsible for the Operating Systems that power Azure, Microsoft's Linux OS, the platforms for Windows Client and Xbox, and our Windows Server ecosystem – through all of these, we support every one of our cloud businesses and billions of customers around the world. In this era of ubiquitous computing, systems software excellence has never been more important for Microsoft. High quality, high-efficiency operating systems and platform components underpin everything we do as a company, from making our systems more reliable for our customers, to increasing our competitiveness by reducing COGS, to delivering new features and capabilities to delight customers – that’s all us!

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**

+ Collaborates with appropriate stakeholders to determine user requirements for a scenario.

+ Drives identification of dependencies and the development of design documents for a product, application, service, or platform.

+ Creates, implements, optimizes, debugs, refactors, and reuses code to establish and improve performance and maintainability, effectiveness, and return on investment (ROI).

+ Leverages subject-matter expertise of product features and partners with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., project managers) to drive a workgroup's project plans, release plans, and work items.

+ Acts as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) and guides other engineers by developing and following the playbook, working on call to monitor system/product/service for degradation, downtime, or interruptions, alerting stakeholders about status and initiates actions to restore system/product/service for simple and complex problems when appropriate.

+ Proactively seeks new knowledge and adapts to new trends, technical solutions, and patterns that will improve the availability, reliability, efficiency, observability, and performance of products while also driving consistency in monitoring and operations at scale.

**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.

+ 3+ years experience contributing to device drivers and kernel programming for consumer PCs or electronics.

**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:**

+ Passion for all things video and video hardware.

+ Deep design, coding, debugging, and problem solving skills.

+ 2+ years experience working on Windows drivers

Software Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $117,200 - $229,200 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 $153,600 - $250,200 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

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until May 9, 2025.

**\#CoreOSJobs**

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html) .