Principal Software Engineering Manager - FDE

In this Microsoft team, you won’t just build software; you’ll deliver real outcomes for some of the world’s most complex organizations.

We are a global team of world-class engineers who have been working in a Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) model for more than a decade, embedding directly within customer teams to solve their toughest challenges, side-by-side, and shipping production-ready solutions in days, not months.

As a Multidisciplinary Manager, you will lead a cross-discipline engineering team, operating with a portfolio mindset to deliver high-impact customer outcomes while coaching talent, modeling engineering excellence, and strengthening ISE’s multidisciplinary operating model. You’ll work alongside engineers, data scientists, product managers, and domain experts, owning delivery across the full lifecycle from problem definition through to deployed solutions.

Our work is powered by AI, applying the mindset and tooling across the entire development lifecycle to move from idea to production in days while maintaining the highest standards of security, quality, and trust.

This role offers the opportunity to:

• Lead a multidisciplinary crew to deliver scalable, production-ready solutions
• Coach talent and drive outcomes that directly influence business strategy
• Collaborate with leading global organizations across industries
• Apply the latest advancements in AI to deliver high-impact outcomes at scale

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

• Lead a multidisciplinary engineering team, owning a portfolio of work to maximize customer and Microsoft value through strong portfolio and delivery leadership.
• Provide clear coaching, career development, and performance support for engineers across software engineering, technical program management, and data science, fostering growth in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Serve as a player-coach by taking on selected engagements, modeling engineering fundamentals, customer-obsessed execution, and inclusive, cross-discipline collaboration.
• Partner with leadership and discipline managers to ensure healthy team rhythms and strong operational excellence across engagements.
• Contribute to a culture of continuous learning by elevating engineering practices, sharing reusable patterns and accelerators, and strengthening our multidisciplinary operating model.
• Champion AI-forward hypervelocity engineering by guiding teams to apply responsible AI practices, leverage accelerators and reusable patterns, and integrate emerging AI capabilities into customer solutions and delivery.
• Embody our culture (https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/culture) and values (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about/corporate-values) .

Required/Minimum Qualifications (RQs/MQs)

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, or related technical discipline
• OR equivalent experience.
• 4-5+ years people management experience.
• Experience partnering directly with customers or internal stakeholders to deliver solutions end-to-end.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications (PQs)

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
• OR related technical field
• OR Master’s Degree in Computer Science or related technical field
• OR equivalent experience.
• 4-6+ years people management experience.
• 3-5+ years customer-facing, project-delivery experience, professional services, and/or consulting experience.
• Experience designing, deploying, and operating AI or LLM-based solutions, including prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented approaches, model tuning, evaluation, data quality, performance monitoring, and use of cloud AI platforms
• Enjoy travel and are comfortable with travel up to 25%

Our team prides itself on embracing a growth mindset, inspiring excellence, and encouraging everyone to share their unique viewpoints and be their authentic selves. Join us and help create life-changing innovations that impact billions around the world!

At Microsoft, we are seeking people who have a passion for the positive impact technology can have on communities and for making a difference in the world. In our team, you will find a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, personal and cultural experiences which are vital to our success with our customers. It’s an informal and flexible work environment and you’ll be welcome to work in the way that best enables you to get your job done.

We invest in your health, wellness, and financial future by offering a competitive package including a wide range of benefits built around your personal needs and those close to you., Software Engineering M5 - The typical base pay range for this role across United Kingdom is £ 93,500.00 - £ 161,800.00 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.