Microsoft · 3 hours ago
Software Development Engineer (contract)
Redmond, WA
Contract
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$65.50/hr - $74.50/hr
4+ years expMicrosoft is seeking a Software Development Engineer to enhance the reliability and quality of media experiences for billions of users. The role involves expanding telemetry depth across video codec pipelines, enhancing hardware validation test coverage, and building observability systems for actionable insights.
Agentic AIApplication Performance ManagementArtificial Intelligence (AI)Business DevelopmentDevOpsInformation ServicesInformation TechnologyManagement Information SystemsNetwork SecuritySoftware
Responsibilities
Design and implement enhanced telemetry events, schemas, and probes across codec pipelines for H.264, HEVC, AV1, and image/video codecs
Capture fine-grained profile information including 10-bit, 4:2:2, 4:4:4 configurations and error modes not visible in current data
Define reliability metrics, performance indicators, and failure signals across encode and decode paths
Build and augment dashboards to surface actionable health insights, trends, regressions, and codec reliability patterns
Author and extend hardware validation test suites for HEVC and AV1 encoder validation beyond existing H.264 bitstream matching
Integrate validation tests into hardware certification workflows to reduce partner test gaps and failures
Analyze telemetry and test-failure data to identify codec reliability gaps and regression patterns
Scan fresh telemetry and validation results daily to spot emerging codec issues and validate anomalies
Collaborate with codec engineering teams, hardware validation teams, graphics and media groups, and hardware partners to close coverage gaps
Partner with teams and independent hardware vendors to drive compliance with new codec feature requirements
Improve detection of rare or profile-specific issues that previously went unnoticed
Help ensure future driver releases meet higher reliability and feature-coverage standards
Qualification
Required
4 to 6 years of experience working with video or image codec technologies and media pipeline systems
3 to 5 years of experience designing and writing video validation tests on real hardware devices such as GPUs, SoCs, or accelerators
4 or more years of hands-on telemetry and observability engineering experience
Demonstrated experience instrumenting systems and defining telemetry events
Previous work with hardware validation test authoring or extension
Experience working with driver certification workflows and independent hardware vendor validation pipelines
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
Deep expertise in video and image codecs including H.264, HEVC, and AV1 encoding and decoding behavior
Strong understanding of codec internals, profile variations, color formats, and media pipeline architectures
Proficiency in designing telemetry event schemas, metrics, instrumentation, and observability systems
Experience analyzing large telemetry datasets and converting raw signals into meaningful reliability insights
Hands-on ability to design and write video validation tests that confirm hardware device codec feature support
Knowledge of hardware validation workflows, driver certification processes, and partner validation pipelines
Strong analytical problem-solving skills to identify patterns in telemetry and validation results
Ability to isolate root causes and propose instrumentation or test improvements
Experience building and maintaining dashboards that reveal performance characteristics and quality trends
Understanding of hardware feature enablement, decoding and encoding behavior validation, and performance verification
Excellent cross-team collaboration skills to work effectively with diverse engineering groups and external partners
Ability to reason about failure modes, reliability metrics, and codec quality signals
Benefits
Medical, dental & vision
Hospital plans
401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
Life Insurance (Company paid Basic Life and AD&D as well as voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
Company paid short and long-term disability
Health & Dependent Care Spending Accounts (HSA & DCFSA)
Employee Assistance Program
Time Off/Leave(PTO, Allegis Group Paid Family Leave, Parental Leave
Company
Microsoft
Microsoft is a software corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a range of software products and services.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Microsoft has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
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Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$1MKey Investors
Technology Venture Investors
2022-12-09Post Ipo Equity
1986-03-13IPO
1981-09-01Series Unknown· $1M
Leadership Team
Satya Nadella
Chairman and CEO
Vukani Mngxati
Chief Executive Officer - Microsft South Africa
Recent News
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2026-01-16
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