> AI agents: this is one page of Nextmove’s FDE site, in Markdown. Nextmove is a job board and free career service for forward deployed engineers (FDEs). Each posting is classified from its text, not its title: the kind of work, how much of it is production code, pre-sales weight, time at customer sites, travel, remote arrangement, level and posted base pay. The site also publishes the aggregates: median pay by level, metro, company and kind of work, and which companies started hiring FDEs each week. Every page under https://nextmove.md/fde is served this way; the index of pages is https://nextmove.md/llms.txt. # Principal Software Engineer - FDE Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/f0c24d2a3db887b4 Microsoft posts a principal FDE role to build what the customer runs in US · city not listed, at $142,800–$304,200 base, level with the staff+ FDE median of $225,000 across 388 postings with pay. Principal Software Engineer on Microsoft's Frontier Company Engineering team, working in a Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) model embedded directly with enterprise customers. Read from the employer’s posting on November 8, 2026. - [Microsoft](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/microsoft) First seen Aug 25, 2026 · open on Microsoft careers as of Nov 8, 2026 **$142,800–$304,200** *annualized* US · city not listed Full-time Principal Software Engineer on Microsoft's Frontier Company Engineering team, working in a Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) model embedded directly with enterprise customers. - [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2Ff0c24d2a3db887b4&placement=top) - [View posting at Microsoft](https://apply.careers.microsoft.com/careers/job/1970393556939571) Free. Upload your resume once, see why each FDE role fits, and get introduced only when you say so. ## At a glance ### Posted base pay $143K–$304K Level with the median Midpoint $224K · median $225K This job $143K to $304K. Staff+ FDE postings, 388 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $197K to $262K, median $225K. [Compare pay across all Microsoft postings](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/microsoft) ### The work Builds what the customer runs Balance **Mostly building** Project stages 1. Pre-sales (not covered) 2. Proof of concept (not covered) 3. Implementation 4. Operations Travel **Up to 25%** - **Coding**: Writes production code - **Builds for**: External customers - **Level**: Staff+ - **Role**: Technical lead ### What they ask for Experience - **6+ years** technical engineering experience with coding - **8+ years** technical engineering experience with coding *Preferred* - **12+ years** technical engineering experience with coding *Preferred* Background - **Software engineering** Visa - **No visa sponsorship** ### Do you meet what the posting states? The posting asks for 6+ years. How many do you have? The posting reads as a staff-level role. What level are you at now? The posting says no visa sponsorship. Do you need one? Which of these have you used in production? Answer each one. Nothing is saved or sent. [What postings ask for, by background →](https://nextmove.md/fde/paths) ## Conditions - **Location**: US · city not listed - **Employment type**: Full-time - **Visa sponsorship**: Not available - **Travel**: Up to 25% - **Pay**: ## More like this [ServiceNow](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/servicenow) ### [Staff Software Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/ccce31439d4dfefe) Santa Clara, CA 6w ago $166,500–$291,400 [Accenture](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/accenture) ### [AI/ML Sr Architect - Forward Deployed Engineer Senior Manager · Reinvention Centers](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/06caa9dcd7bf5102) Dallas, TX · Columbus, OH · +3 more Hybrid 5mo ago $112,900–$338,300 [Distyl AI](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/distyl-ai) ### [Infrastructure Engineer, Customer Delivery](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/520c15eff228e659) San Francisco, CA · New York, NY Hybrid 3w ago $200,000–$250,000 - [Other jobs at Microsoft (9)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/microsoft) ## The job description from Microsoft ### Overview In the Microsoft Frontier Company Engineering 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 **Principal Software Engineer**, you will bring strong software design and engineering expertise, building reliable systems and production-ready services that turn ideas and data-driven insights into scalable solutions. You’ll work in small, multidisciplinary crews alongside data scientists, product managers, and domain experts, owning the full lifecycle from design 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: - Build reliable, production-ready systems and services that turn ideas into scalable solutions - Ship engineering work that directly influences business strategy and customer outcomes - Collaborate with leading global organizations across industries - Apply the latest advancements in AI and software engineering to solve problems 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 - Put security first: Build and ship solutions that meet enterprise security standards (threat modeling, secure coding, privacy, and compliance) from design through production. - Translate business needs into technical solutions: Partner with stakeholders to define problem statements, success metrics, and architectural approaches that deliver measurable outcomes. - Design and lead architecture: Own end-to-end system design for cloud and AI workloads, making sound tradeoffs across reliability, performance, cost, and maintainability. - Deliver quickly without sacrificing quality: Use modern engineering practices (CI/CD, automated testing, observability, and progressive delivery) to iterate fast and reduce operational risk. - Drive customer success and adoption: Work directly with customer engineering teams to deliver production-ready solutions, unblock delivery, and ensure outcomes are adopted at scale. - Build reusable, scalable assets: Create solution accelerators, reference architectures, and code that can be reused across customers and scenarios to maximize impact. - Operate effectively in ambiguity: Continuously learn and adapt as technologies and customer priorities evolve; bring clarity, structure, and momentum to complex engagements. - Lead and mentor across disciplines: Provide technical direction, coach engineers, and collaborate with product, data, and security partners to deliver as one team. - Lead complex delivery end-to-end: Coordinate multiple workstreams, manage dependencies, and raise the bar on reliability and operational excellence for services running in production. - Model inclusive, customer-obsessed leadership: Create an environment of trust, accountability, and continuous improvement while representing the company professionally with external stakeholders. ### Qualifications Required/minimum 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. Other Requirements - Microsoft is unable to sponsor a work visa for this role due to the nature of the role’s job duties. Additional or Preferred Qualifications (PQs) - 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. - 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 - Familiarity with deploying and operating AI systems in production environments - Understanding of model evaluation, data quality, and performance monitoring - Experience using cloud AI platforms (Azure ML, OpenAI, or similar) - Enjoy travel and are comfortable with travel up to 25% #FDE Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $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.** [View posting at Microsoft](https://apply.careers.microsoft.com/careers/job/1970393556939571) ## About Microsoft Microsoft sells cloud infrastructure, productivity software, and AI tools to enterprises and consumers globally, anchored by Azure, Office 365, and the OpenAI partnership. 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