Software Engineer II - Cryptography & Post-Quantum Security (Multiple Roles)

Overview

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.

Microsoft Security is committed to making the world a safer place by empowering organizations to protect their digital assets against evolving cyber threats. Through continuous innovation and a growth mindset, we build cutting-edge security solutions that help customers stay ahead of emerging challenges. Microsoft Security is launching Project Compass, a new product group that addresses one of the most critical emerging challenges in cybersecurity: securing cryptographic infrastructure in the AI and quantum era. Driven by evolving threats, growing customer demand, and increasing regulatory requirements, organizations must gain visibility, control, and protection over their cryptographic assets while preparing for a quantum-safe future. The Compass engineering team will build the next generation of cryptographic security solutions, from continuous discovery and risk assessment to AI-driven remediation and post-quantum readiness. Working closely with engineers, security researchers, and product teams across Microsoft, we bring together expertise in cybersecurity, AI, cryptography, and cloud-scale engineering. This is a unique opportunity to build a new product from the ground up and deliver solutions with global impact. As a Software Engineer 2 in the Compass group, you will own features end-to-end, from design through production operations, as part of a new cloud-scale product for cryptographic asset discovery, risk assessment, and remediation. You will build new capabilities from scratch using LLMs and autonomous agents, integrate with partner teams across Microsoft, and directly help customers reduce their cryptographic risk and become quantum-safe. 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. 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.

Responsibilities

• Become a founding member of the Compass group and help shape the team's culture and engineering practices. • Own features end-to-end: design, implementation, testing, deployment, and production operations of cloud-scale services for cryptographic discovery, risk assessment, and remediation. • Build new capabilities from scratch using AI, LLMs, and agentic workflows to identify, prioritize, and remediate cryptographic risks. • Write high-quality production code, take part in design and code reviews, improve reliability and performance, and investigate complex production issues. • Build integrations with partner teams across Microsoft to bring cryptographic insights and remediation into the wider security ecosystem. • Partner with security researchers, product managers, and engineers to deliver against quarterly milestones and measurable customer outcomes.

Qualifications

We are hiring for multiple roles in Project Compass, a new product group in the Security GCR organization.

• You have at least 4+ years of hands-on software engineering experience building production systems in languages such as C#, Java, Rust, Go, or Python.
• Proven experience designing, building, and operating complex, scalable, reliable, and secure distributed cloud services.
• You have experience with system design skills for high-scale systems, including architecture, performance, resiliency, observability, and maintainability.
• Experience owning features/services/products end-to-end: design, implementation, testing, deployment, integrations and operations.

Preferred Qualifications

• B.Sc., M.Sc. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).
• Experience building and shipping AI/LLM or agentic capabilities in production or advanced prototypes, including prompt/workflow design, evaluation, and integration.
• Knowledge of security systems and cybersecurity fundamentals.
• Extensive knowledge and hands-on experience with cryptographic infrastructures and the following: PKI, keys, certificates, Identity and digital signatures, cryptographic protocols and libraries.
• Experience building cybersecurity products, cloud security platforms, or large-scale security data platforms (such as ingestion pipelines, connectors, and graph-based models).
• Demonstrated ability to drive ambiguous 0-to-1 problems into clear architecture and executable milestones.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration with engineering, security research, and product teams.
• Experience in early-stage or startup-like product incubation environments.
• Familiarity with compliance frameworks and security standards (for example: NIST, FIPS, PCI, and sector-specific regulations).

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

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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.