Software Engineer II

Do you want to help shape the future of gaming and bring high-quality XBOX experiences to players wherever they choose to play? The XBOX Cloud Gaming Server team builds and operates the technology that powers game streaming at global scale. Our work sits at the intersection of gaming, cloud services, Windows systems, virtualization, inter-process communication, networking, streaming technology, and data center hardware. 

We are looking for a Software Engineer II in Redmond, WA to design, build, and improve the server platform behind XBOX Cloud Gaming. In this role, you will contribute to reliable, secure, and high-performance systems that serve players around the world. You will work with engineers and product partners across XBOX to deliver features from design through production, diagnose complex issues across hardware and software boundaries, and continuously improve the quality and efficiency of our services. 

You will also help evolve how we build and operate software in the AI era. You will use AI-assisted development tools and agentic workflows responsibly, automate repetitive engineering and operational tasks, and apply telemetry and data-driven insights to improve reliability, performance, and developer velocity. This is an opportunity to deepen your skills in distributed systems, Windows and C++ engineering, virtualization, inter-process communication technologies such as gRPC Remote Procedure Call (gRPC) and Component Object Model (COM), networking, observability, and live-site operations while contributing to the next generation of cloud gaming. 

• Design, implement, test, and maintain extensible, diagnosable, and reliable software for XBOX Cloud Gaming server systems and services. 
• Contribute to technical designs, identify dependencies, and collaborate with engineering and product partners to deliver secure, scalable solutions that meet player and business needs. 
• Write high-quality code, participate in code reviews, and apply engineering best practices for maintainability, performance, security, and compliance. 
• Debug complex issues across applications, operating systems, virtualization layers, inter-process and remote procedure call boundaries, networks, cloud services, and hardware by using logs, telemetry, traces, and diagnostic tools. 
• Build observability into features and services, analyze production data, conduct root-cause investigations, and apply incident learnings to improve reliability and player experience. 
• Develop automated unit, integration, and scenario tests, and use safe deployment practices to validate and release changes with confidence. 
• Participate in live-site operations and an on-call rotation for the services the team owns, helping mitigate incidents and improve operational readiness. 
• Use AI-assisted engineering tools and agentic workflows responsibly to accelerate development, testing, diagnostics, and documentation while maintaining human review, security, privacy, and quality standards. 
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive engineering and operational work, improve developer workflows, and increase service efficiency. 
• Embody Microsoft's culture and values and contribute to an inclusive environment where people can do their best work. 

Software Engineering IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $102,100 - $202,200 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 $133,800 - $219,200 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.