Software Engineer II - Excel Team

Overview Microsoft Excel is where hundreds of millions of people bring data, decisions, and work together. The Excel team is building the next generation of AI-powered spreadsheet experiences - combining the flexibility of the grid with intelligent assistance that can understand workbook context, help users analyze and visualize information, automate multi-step work, and move from data to decisions with less effort. We are looking for a Software Engineer II to help create these experiences. You will translate emerging AI capabilities into intuitive, reliable, and responsible customer-facing features, collaborate across disciplines, and apply software engineering fundamentals and practical AI curiosity to turn ambitious ideas into meaningful customer value. 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 Design, implement, test, ship, and operate AI-powered spreadsheet features; contribute to architecture, design, code reviews, debugging, deployment, monitoring, and operational readiness; and maintain high standards for code quality, maintainability, performance, reliability, security, and customer experience. Contribute to end-to-end AI product experiences spanning rich user interfaces, workbook and enterprise context, application logic, model orchestration, services, data access, and platform capabilities. Develop intelligent workflows that use large language models to understand user intent, reason over spreadsheet data, invoke appropriate tools, and help users calculate, analyze, visualize, organize, and share information. Build reliable, grounded agentic experiences that use workbook and permission-aware context, validated model outputs, evaluation, telemetry, and safeguards to complete multi-step tasks accurately and safely. Apply responsible AI practices through transparency, user control, privacy, security, guardrails, appropriate uncertainty, and fallbacks for incomplete or unsafe model output. Thrive in a fast-paced environment by rapidly prototyping with emerging models and tools, validating assumptions through evidence, incorporating learnings, and maturing successful concepts into robust production solutions. Collaborate across Engineering, Product Management, Design, Applied Science, Research, and partner teams to help define AI opportunities and deliver well-scoped spreadsheet features. Qualifications Required Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 2+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience. Other Requirements: Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter. Preferred Qualifications: Experience designing, building, testing, deploying, and operating production software. Experience with full-stack, web, client, or distributed systems development and grounding in data structures, algorithms, software design, debugging, testing, and performance analysis. Hands-on experience developing with large language models, generative AI, machine learning, or natural-language interfaces through professional work, academic projects, or substantial personal projects is a plus. Ability to collaborate across disciplines, communicate technical trade-offs, learn about evolving AI technologies, and deliver results in ambiguous and rapidly changing problem spaces. Experience building high-quality production AI applications with AI development frameworks and orchestration systems, including agent orchestration, tool or function calling, retrieval and grounding, prompt and context engineering, structured outputs, evaluation, observability, and safeguards. Demonstrated ability to use AI-assisted development tools effectively and efficiently to accelerate implementation, debugging, testing, and documentation while maintaining rigorous engineering judgment, review, and validation. Experience developing rich, data-intensive applications using JavaScript or TypeScript, and a modern user-interface framework. Experience building spreadsheets, productivity, collaboration, analytics, data visualization, or business intelligence features. #OPG #Copilot Software Engineering IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $102,100 - $202,200 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 $133,800 - $219,200 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay 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.