Senior Principal Optical System Architect
 Microsoft | |
 United States, Washington, Redmond | |
 Jul 13, 2025 | |
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OverviewThe System Design Team is looking for an Senior Principal Optical System Architect to join our team. Our team is at the forefront of technology and system design, leading the way for the next generation of systems and AI super computers. Our mission is to architect the most performant, secure, reliable, and cost-effective solutions that are deployed and managed at hyperscale and power Azure. Leading the AI Network architecture for these systems that power one of the largest hardware deployments on earth requires deep technical knowledge and partnership across many teams. This individual will be an architect for the interconnects between GPU/AI Accelerators and the switching ASICs, helping articulate and define our next generation platforms. With ever-increasing complexity of the networking for AI super-computers, this area heavily influences and impacts the solutions for the world's largest training clusters. This requires working across multiple domains including electrical, mechanical, networking, and serviceability to find the right solution tradeoffs. The System Design Team is part of a broader hardware and infrastructure organization known as the Silicon, Cloud Hardware, and Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE). SCHIE is the team behind Microsoft's expanding Cloud Infrastructure and is responsible for powering Microsoft's "Intelligent Cloud" mission. SCHIE delivers the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's 200+ online businesses including Teams, OneDrive, Office 365, Xbox Live, Skype, Bing, MSN, and the Microsoft Azure platform globally. We architect and design the server and data center infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability solutions to support these businesses. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and deliver trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide. We are looking for passionate, growth-minded engineers to help us achieve that mission.As Microsoft's cloud business continues to grow the ability to deploy new offerings and HW infrastructure on time, at hyperscale, with high reliability and the performance/price level is paramount. Come join this exciting and growing teamthroughour monumental evolution ofcloud hardware atAzure and Microsoft! 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.
ResponsibilitiesThis Optical System Architecture role, with a networking and interconnect focus, will require you to drive innovation, partnerships, and development: Technology Leadership - Drive concepts and definition for industry leading platforms focused on GPU and AI accelerator-based solutions, with a focus on high performance and low latency networks at the forefront of density and speed. Technology Partnerships - build relationships with our technology and development partners to drive leading edge innovation into our next generation products. Customer Focus - partner across Microsoft teams and collaborate to deliver industry leading products. Drive Clarity - Distill and articulate architectural tradeoffs for the AI accelerator networking and interconnects encompassing electrical, optical, signal integrity, mechanical, power, and thermal inputs in terms of key metrics such as TCO, performance, schedule, and risk. Industry Influence - Drive and influence technology providers and design partners towards optimal components and solutions to meet the future requirements for Azure's infrastructure. Embody our culture and values. | |