Senior Software Engineer - Backend

Microsoft Microsoft · Big Tech · Vancouver, BC +1 · Software Engineering

Senior Backend Engineer for Microsoft Ads' high-throughput, low-latency real-time bidding platform. Focuses on architectural evolution, modernization, performance, scalability, and operational excellence. Requires deep expertise in distributed systems and leadership in large-scale refactoring. Collaborates with data science, experimentation, and business stakeholders.

What you'd actually do

  1. Own technical direction and execution for core components, a high-scale, latency-sensitive real-time bidding service at the heart of Microsoft Ads.
  2. Lead design and implementation of scalable, high-performance backend systems operating under strict latency and reliability requirements.
  3. Drive platform modernization and long-term sustainability of critical services, improving code quality, maintainability, and operational safety.
  4. Ensure performance, scalability, and stability of the service as traffic, data volume, and business requirements continue to grow.
  5. Define and evolve instrumentation, observability, and experimentation capabilities to support data-driven decision making and safe production changes.

Skills

Required

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field
  • 4+ years technical engineering experience
  • coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python

Nice to have

  • Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field
  • 6+ years technical engineering experience
  • 8+ years technical engineering experience
  • Experience working on high-throughput, production systems where scalability, latency, and stability are critical.
  • Demonstrated ability to design, evolve, and maintain complex systems over time.
  • Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver solutions aligned with business needs.
  • Problem-solving skills and ability to analyze and address performance or reliability issues in production environments.
  • Experience with real-time bidding systems, ad tech, or high-frequency decision systems.
  • Familiarity with experimentation platforms, A/B testing, or traffic shaping systems.
  • Experience working with ML-driven decision systems or integrating models into production pipelines.
  • Exposure to large-scale data processing or feature pipelines.
  • Experience with cloud environments and modern deployment practices.

What the JD emphasized

  • high-scale, latency-sensitive
  • strict latency and reliability requirements
  • scalability, latency, and stability are critical