Principal Networking Architect

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 achieve 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. In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day. 

Join the Strategic Planning and Architecture (SPARC) team within Microsoft’s Azure Hardware Systems and Infrastructure (AHSI) organization, the team behind Microsoft’s expanding Cloud Infrastructure and for powering Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” mission. Microsoft delivers more than 200 online services to more than one billion individuals worldwide and AHSI is the team behind our expanding cloud infrastructure. We deliver the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's cloud businesses including Microsoft Azure, Bing, MSN, Office 365, OneDrive, Skype, Teams and Xbox Live.    

At SPARC, we design and develop the hardware systems and technologies that provide strategic capabilities for Azure and Microsoft. We are seeking a Principal Networking Architect to lead the development and evaluation of innovative data center and AI supercomputer networking technologies. This role includes host and switch hardware/software architecture, NIC programming, telemetry, protocol development, and related innovations to deliver industry-leading capabilities for Azure’s global customers. It also involves architectural design and close collaboration with other Azure networking and system architects shaping current and future datacenter and AI solutions. 

• Develop models of varying network architectures and their components to simulate end-to-end performance at scale. 
• Help drive the architecture of future SmartNICs, including the hardware/software interface. 
• Drive how SmartNICs interface with the server, the rack, and switches. 
• Partner with teams across Microsoft to prototype and implement transport solutions, ensuring seamless software-hardware integration. 
• Analyze performance bottlenecks, optimize resource utilization, and implement strategies to enhance system efficiency. 
• Contribute to the architecture of large-scale systems that enable cutting-edge AI workload performance and influence Azure’s AI infrastructure roadmap. 
• Perform software development in C++ and Python, ensuring high-quality, scalable code. 
• Conduct design and code reviews to uphold best practices and maintain codebase integrity.