Microsoft

Microsoft

Posted via Microsoft Careers

Site Reliability Engineer II - CTJ - Top Secret

Posted Aug 4, 2026

Role at a glance

Salary
$102.1K – $202.2K/yr
Location
Redmond, Washington, United States Reston, Virginia, United States
Work arrangement
On-site
Employment
Full-time
Experience
1+ year(s) technical experience
Education
Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field

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Role Summary

AI-generated

The Microsoft Defender engineering team is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer II to build and deliver cloud solutions for Microsoft Defender products in US Government clouds. The role operates production services, supports on-call operations, and works with engineering teams to improve service stability, performance, security, and observability.

What You'll Do

  • Serve as a Designated Responsible Individual in a 24x7 on-call rotation, monitoring service health and responding to incidents within...
  • Contribute to automation efforts and validate code functionality in non-production environments to support deployments.
  • Verify security, privacy, and accessibility standards during onboarding of new technologies.
  • Address complex live site issues, implement mitigations, and document learnings through postmortems.
  • Apply development and scaling practices to meet performance and customer requirements.
  • Communicate with engineering partners to align on goals and deliver user-centric solutions.

Generated from the employer's posting. Verify important details before applying.

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Qualifications

Master's or bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, with the specified technical experience, or equivalent experience. Candidates must have an active TS clearance and be willing and eligible to upgrade to TS/SCI with polygraph, or have an active TS/SCI and be willing and eligible to upgrade to TS/SCI with polygraph.

Required

  • Master's or bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
  • Technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration
  • Active TS clearance with willingness and eligibility to upgrade to TS/SCI with polygraph, or active TS/SCI clearance with willingness...

Preferred

  • 2+ years technical experience working with large-scale cloud or distributed systems
  • Experience applying software engineering principles to production systems
  • Proficiency in C#, Go, Java, or Python
  • Experience with automation that results in measurable improvements
  • Experience debugging and troubleshooting complex distributed systems in production environments
  • Experience with CI/CD pipelines, testing, deployment, and reliability tooling

Original job description

Content provided by the employer

Overview
Are you interested in working on cutting-edge cloud security products? Would you like to be part of one of the world’s most advanced cyber-security solutions and protect millions of computers from thousands of active attack attempts, every month?  Look no further than the Microsoft Defender engineering team. We are looking for a Site Reliability Engineer II who will be building and delivering cloud solutions to meet the scale that few companies in the industry are required to support. Leveraging state-of-the-art technologies, you will be instrumental in delivering holistic protection within highly sensitive and secure government environments. The Microsoft Defender team is responsible for delivering a constantly evolving set of services and solutions to meet the challenging landscape of our ever-evolving attackers.   
 
 
This is a team which provides on-call operational support and improvements to the operational posture of the Microsoft Defender products within US Government clouds. You will operate our production services, and work closely with other engineering teams to ensure services and systems are highly stable, meet performance SLAs, and meet the expectations of internal and external customers and users. The Microsoft Defender team is responsible for delivering a constantly evolving set of services and solutions to meet the challenging landscape of our ever-evolving attackers. 
 
 
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
  • Live Site Operations: Serve as a Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) in a 24x7 on-call rotation, monitoring service health and responding to incidents within SLA timelines.  
  • Automation & Deployment: Contribute to automation efforts and validate code functionality in non-production environments to ensure smooth deployments.  
  • Compliance & Security: Support compliance processes by verifying security, privacy, and accessibility standards during onboarding of new technologies.  
  • Continuous Learning: Stay current with industry trends and internal tools to improve reliability, performance, and observability at scale.  
  • Engineering Best Practices: Apply proven development and scaling practices to meet performance and customer requirements.  
  • Cross-Team Collaboration: Communicate effectively with engineering partners to align on goals and deliver user-centric solutions.  
  • Incident Response & Postmortems: Address complex live site issues, implement mitigations, and document learnings through postmortems.

 

Other:



Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
  • Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 1+ year(s) technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration
    • OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 2+ years technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration
    • OR equivalent experience. 
 
 
Other Qualifications:
 

Security Clearance Requirements: Candidates must be able 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:

  • Candidates must have an active TS and be willing and eligible to upgrade to TS/SCI (with polygraph) or have an active TS/SCI and be willing and eligible to upgrade to TS/SCI (with polygraph). This role will require candidates to maintain the TS/SCI (with polygraph) clearance. Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required pre-offer and post-hire for this role. Failure to maintain or obtain the appropriate clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination. 
  • Clearance Verification: This position requires successful verification of the stated security clearance to meet federal government customer requirements. You will be asked to provide clearance verification information prior to an offer of employment.
  • 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:
  • Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 3+ years technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration
    • OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 5+ years technical experience in software engineering, network engineering, or systems administration
    • OR equivalent experience. 
  • 2+ years technical experience working with large-scale cloud or distributed systems.
  • Demonstrated experience applying software engineering principles to production systems, including designing, building, or improving services and platforms. 
  • Proficiency in one or more programming languages such as C#, Go, Java, or Python, with the ability to develop and maintain production-quality code.
  • Experience with automation that results in measurable improvements (e.g., reduced toil, fewer manual steps, improved system reliability).
  • Experience with debugging and troubleshooting complex distributed systems in production environments.
  • Ability to independently identify problems and implement solutions that improve system reliability and operational efficiency.
  • Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines, testing, deployment, and reliability tooling.


Site Reliability 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

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:
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.

Microsoft

About the company

Microsoft

Large Enterprise

Microsoft is a global technology leader that empowers individuals and organizations to achieve more through innovative software, services, and devices. Founded in 1975, the company is best known for its flagship products like the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office suite. In addition to personal computing, Microsoft is a leader in cloud computing with its Azure platform, providing a range of solutions for businesses to enhance productivity and efficiency. With a strong commitment to sustainability and accessibility, Microsoft continues to drive technological advancements that shape the future of work and learning.