Job description

Overview Microsoft Substrate is the foundational cloud platform that powers many of Microsoft’s most critical services including Exchange Online and M365 Copilot, providing shared infrastructure, identity, messaging, storage, and service-to-service capabilities used across Microsoft 365 and related cloud offerings. Substrate services operate at global scale and are designed to deliver high availability, reliability, and security for some of the world’s most demanding workloads. As a Senior Site Reliability Engineer , you will lead reliability improvements across multiple services or components, solving complex, cross-cutting operational problems. You are recognized as a subject matter expert in your area and lead by example through strong technical judgment, ownership, and accountability. You will influence service architecture, define reliability strategies, mentor other SREs, and drive meaningful reductions in incidents, toil, and operational risk—particularly for services operating in regulated, sovereign, or compliance-sensitive environments. 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 reliability and availability improvements across multiple Substrate services in highly regulated environments. • Serve as a senior on-call engineer (OCE), leading incident response for complex or high-severity incidents in regulated environments. • Provide hands-on technical leadership during incidents, coordinating response across teams as needed. • Drive high-quality post-incident reviews that identify systemic issues and result in durable engineering improvements. • Drive automation, monitoring, and observability strategies to reduce incident volume and mean time to recovery. • Lead design and implementation of reliability-focused software components, frameworks, or platforms used across multiple services. • Partner with engineering teams to influence service architecture and operational readiness. • Mentor and coach SREs, establishing best practices and raising the team’s technical bar. • Represent SRE perspectives in design reviews, planning forums, and cross-team initiatives. Qualifications Required Qualifications: • Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 2+ years technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration • OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 4+ years technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration • OR equivalent experience. Other Requirements: Security Clearance Requirements Candidates must be able to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following specialized security screenings: This role requires access to Microsoft Government cloud environments , including GCC Moderate (GCCM), GCC High (GCCH), and Department of Defense (DoD) environments. As a result, the successful candidate must be able to obtain and maintain the appropriate background investigations and customer screenings required for access to these environments. • For access to GCCH and DoD environments , this role requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorably adjudicated Tier 3 (T3) background investigation . • For access to GCCM environments , this role requires the ability to meet Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) eligibility requirements. For manager-level roles , a Tier 5 (T5) background investigation is preferred , as certain approval authorities and operational responsibilities require this level of screening. Candidates may be considered without currently holding these background investigations , provided they are eligible for and able to successfully obtain them . Candidates may begin work while required background investigations are in progress; however, failure to obtain or maintain the appropriate clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination . In addition, this position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter . Preferred Qualifications: • Doctorate Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 3+ years technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration • OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 6+ years technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 8+ years technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration • OR equivalent experience. • 3+ years technical experience working with large-scale cloud or distributed systems. Site Reliability Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 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 $160,200 - $261,000 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: careers.microsoft.com 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.

Requirements

Must-haves

Lead reliability and availability improvements across multiple Substrate services in highly regulated environments.
Serve as a senior on-call engineer (OCE), leading incident response for complex or high-severity incidents in regulated environments.
Provide hands-on technical leadership during incidents, coordinating response across teams as needed.
Drive high-quality post-incident reviews that identify systemic issues and result in durable engineering improvements.
Drive automation, monitoring, and observability strategies to reduce incident volume and mean time to recovery.
Lead design and implementation of reliability-focused software components, frameworks, or platforms used across multiple services.
Partner with engineering teams to influence service architecture and operational readiness.
Mentor and coach SREs, establishing best practices and raising the team’s technical bar.
Represent SRE perspectives in design reviews, planning forums, and cross-team initiatives.
OR equivalent experience.
Security Clearance Requirements
For access to GCCH and DoD environments , this role requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorably adjudicated Tier 3 (T3) background investigation .
For access to GCCM environments , this role requires the ability to meet Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) eligibility requirements.
In addition, this position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter .
OR equivalent experience.
3+ years technical experience working with large-scale cloud or distributed systems.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Nice-to-haves

For manager-level roles , a Tier 5 (T5) background investigation is preferred , as certain approval authorities and operational responsibilities require this level of screening.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Platform: eightfold
Effort: medium