Principal Group Engineering Manager Job at Microsoft Corporation (Bangalore)

Job Description

Microsoft Specialized Clouds combines the power of edge platforms, devices, and services to deliver comprehensive edge solutions, operating systems, and engineering systems. Our team is dedicated to extending Azure’s native capabilities to the customer edge, empowering customers to run a wide range of edge applications — including network-intensive workloads and mission-critical apps — with enhanced resiliency, security, observability, and performance. The Network Fabric team is at the heart of this mission. We build and operate the network infrastructure platform that underpins Azure Operator Nexus and Azure Local, delivering cloud-managed networking at the edge. Our work spans network device programming (Arista, Cisco), Azure Resource Provider engineering, spine-leaf fabric orchestration, and the full lifecycle of network configuration management — from initial deployment through in-service upgrades and day-2 operations. We are in the midst of a critical engineering transformation: raising the bar on quality, test-driven development, release predictability, and operational maturity. The leader who joins this team will inherit meaningful momentum — and the mandate to accelerate it.

Job Responsibility

Lead engineering teams through the design, architecture, development, testing, and operations of the Network Fabric platform — the cloud-managed networking layer for Azure Operator Nexus and Azure Local
Drive execution excellence across the full software lifecycle: semester planning, feature delivery, release management, and live-site operations
Own engineering commitments across multiple workstreams including network device programming, Azure Resource Provider development, fabric orchestration, and network configuration management
Ensure services meet Microsoft standards for quality, reliability, security, and operational readiness
Establish and enforce engineering best practices — including test-driven development, automated validation, secure development lifecycle (SDL/SFI), and continuous integration
Continue and accelerate the ongoing engineering transformation: driving quality resets, improving release predictability, and reducing customer-impacting incidents
Own the resolution of code yellow and equivalent quality escalations, driving root cause analysis and systemic remediation across the engineering organization
Champion a culture of engineering fundamentals — ensuring that quality, security, and operational maturity are embedded into every sprint, not treated as afterthoughts
Drive measurable reduction in support costs through automation, improved test coverage, and process optimization
Provide technical leadership across device programming (Arista EOS, Cisco NX-OS), network fabric orchestration, and Azure Resource Provider engineering
Set architectural direction for spine-leaf network fabrics, including L2/L3 networking, VXLAN overlay/underlay, BGP routing, and network configuration lifecycle management
Drive innovation in areas such as AI-assisted configuration anomaly detection, fabric edge controller development, and in-service upgrade automation
Influence cross-platform architectural decisions to advance the “one platform” vision across Azure Operator Nexus and Azure Local
Lead, coach, and develop engineering managers and senior engineers across a geographically distributed team
Build, grow, and sustain a high-performing engineering organization — growing talent bottom-up through mentoring, knowledge sharing (architectural forums, DRI rotations), and structured career development
Recruit, retain, and develop engineering talent
build a pipeline that does not rely solely on hiring to close skill gaps
Foster an inclusive, growth-mindset-driven culture aligned with Microsoft values
Resolve cross-geographical team conflicts and build effective collaboration frameworks that span time zones and cultures
Partner closely with Product Management, Technical Program Management, and peer engineering teams to align roadmaps, delivery commitments, and customer outcomes
Drive accountability with TPM partners — setting clear expectations for planning, communication, and delivery coordination
Lead through influence with partner engineering teams, ensuring shared ownership, mutual accountability, and aligned engineering practices
Build and maintain strategic partnerships across Microsoft Specialized Clouds and the broader Azure organization
Communicate clearly with senior leadership and stakeholders, articulating architectural trade-offs, platform strategy, and delivery risks
Own service health, reliability, and operational maturity for the Network Fabric platform
Improve deployment, monitoring, and maintenance efficiency across network device fleets
Reduce manual operational burden through automation and process improvement
Ensure teams are prepared for live-site operations and incident response
Apply site-reliability engineering practices to ensure robust operations at scale

Requirements

15+ years of professional software engineering experience, including designing, building, and operating distributed, cloud-scale services
5+ years of engineering leadership experience, including managing managers and leading multi-team engineering organizations (M2+)
Deep experience with network device platforms — specifically Arista (EOS, eAPI, CloudVision) and/or Cisco (NX-OS, DCNM/NDFC) — including device programming, configuration management, and automation
Strong background in device programming and network automation — building systems that programmatically configure, validate, and manage network device state at scale
Experience with Azure Resource Provider (RP) engineering — ARM resource modeling, deployment pipelines, control-plane architecture, and resource lifecycle management
Solid understanding of L2/L3 networking fundamentals: spine-leaf architecture, VXLAN, overlay/underlay networking, BGP, and data center network design
Proven ability to set technical direction and architectural strategy for complex platforms spanning multiple components and partner teams
Demonstrated success owning end-to-end delivery of customer-critical services, including design, development, release, and live-site operations
Strong experience driving operational excellence, including reliability, incident management, automation, and cost optimization for production services
Proven track record of leading organizational transformation — such as quality resets, reliability turnarounds, code yellow resolution, or engineering culture change across an engineering org
Experience arbitrating cross-org dependencies and release sequencing, balancing customer commitments with platform and partner constraints
Experience working in products with heterogeneous coding languages and microservices architecture in public clouds
Excellent cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management skills, with experience influencing product, TPM, security, and partner engineering teams without direct authority

Nice to have

Experience with cloud-managed network fabric orchestration — building or operating systems that manage network infrastructure as a cloud resource
Experience shipping network infrastructure products in edge, hybrid, or sovereign cloud environments
Familiarity with network telemetry, streaming telemetry (gNMI/gRPC), and network observability platforms
Experience with AI/ML applications in network operations — anomaly detection, configuration validation, or predictive maintenance
Background in security-focused engineering practices: SFI compliance, credential scanning, dependency management (Renovate), and secure development lifecycle
Experience integrating geographically distributed engineering teams (cross-timezone, cross-culture collaboration)
Strong systems thinking across platform layering, service boundaries, and operational contracts — particularly in environments involving multiple dependent services or infrastructure layers
Experience serving as a technical and execution spokesperson to senior leadership and customers

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Principal Group Engineering Manager

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