Job Description

In Mixed Reality, people—not devices—are at the center of everything we do. Our tech moves beyond screens and pixels, creating a new reality aimed at bringing us closer together—whether that’s scientists “meeting” on the surface of a virtual Mars or some yet undreamt-of possibility. To get there, we’re incorporating diverse groundbreaking technologies, from the revolutionary Holographic Processing Unit to computer vision, machine learning, human-computer interaction, and more. We’re a growing team of talented engineers and artists putting technology on a human path across all Windows devices, including Microsoft HoloLens, the Internet of Things, phones, tablets, desktops, and Xbox. We believe there has to be a better way. If you do too, we need you!

We are seeking a Principal Platform Architect to join our Mixed Reality Architecture team. The team is responsible for Product Architecture, Systems Architecture, Prototyping & Incubation as well as defining and driving the various technology roadmaps that are crucial to the future of Mixed Reality at Microsoft.

You will need to have a strong background in one or more key technology areas including: Operating Systems design and implementation, GPU and graphics performance and optimization, power and performance analysis and optimization. Leveraging your background expertise, you will conduct architectural explorations, code prototypes, evaluate design alternatives and tradeoffs, drive product requirements and incubate novel solutions for key subsystems of our next-generation Mixed Reality products.

You should have a passion for seeking disruptive new ideas pushing the boundary of innovation while balancing focused execution on current priorities. In this role you will collaborate with experienced architects and world-class software developers to directly impact future products.

This role has location flexibility.

Responsibilities

• Drive innovation for future Mixed Reality platforms with focus on power and performance
• Understand Mixed Reality use cases, graphics and general systems optimization
• Cross-team and cross-organizational multidisciplinary collaboration to help advise on innovative and compelling application frameworks, tools and customer experiences
• Contribute to Product Requirement Documents and Architectural Specifications.
• Influence product architecture based on domain specific experience.
• Contribute to an evolving team with a growth mindset, creating clarity and influencing the team strategy.
• Participate in investigations resulting in shipping features, patents, and/or publications.
  

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:  

• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in either Physics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent alternative education, skills, and/or practical experience is required
• 10 years minimum experience in Platform Development, Operating System Development, General Software Engineering, or Software Systems Architecture
  

Preferred Qualifications

• 5 years' minimum experience with C/C++ programming or equivalent
• Excellent design, coding, and debugging skills
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills
• Detailed understanding of mobile platform performance optimization (Windows, Linux, Android etc)
• Comprehensive understanding of graphics platform architecture and optimization including shader design and implementation, OpenGl, Vulcan or Metal
• AR/VR/MR product development experience inc. Unity3D, Unreal or others
• Vertical solution stack product development exposure from silicon to software algorithms with good understanding of the design tradeoffs involved in both architecture and implementation
• Contribute to an evolving team with a growth mindset, creating clarity and influencing the team strategy
• Strong problem-solving skills and passion to solve hard problems as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Strong customer focus with ability to work effectively across multiple businesses and technical teams to ensure continued customer happiness
• Demonstrated cross-functional and cross-org experience
• Demonstrated ability to excel in an ambiguous and rapidly changing environment, being self-motivated and independent
  

Requirements

These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following specialized security screenings

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role.

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
  

#MixedReality

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.