Principal Mechanical Engineer - AI Systems

Principal Mechanical Engineer - AI Systems

United States, California, Mountain View

Job description

Company and benefits

Job number

200055782

Date posted

Oct 01, 2026

Work site

3 days / week in-office

Travel

Less than 25%

Profession

Hardware Engineering

Discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Role type

Individual Contributor

Employment type

Full-Time

Overview

Microsoft Silicon, Cloud Hardware, and Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) is the team behind Microsoft's expanding Cloud Infrastructure and responsible for powering Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud mission. SCHIE delivers the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's over 200 online businesses including Bing, MSN, Office 365, Xbox Live, Teams, OneDrive, and the Microsoft Azure platform globally with our server and data center infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability solutions. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide and we are looking for engineers to help achieve that mission.

Our Mechanical Engineering team is responsible for developing the server, rack, and infrastructure platforms that power Microsoft's global cloud and AI services. We partner closely with electrical, thermal, manufacturing, supply chain, and datacenter operations teams to deliver innovative, reliable, and scalable hardware solutions from concept through deployment.

The Principal Mechanical Engineer will lead the design and deployment of future high density, liquid-cooled systems in Azure datacenters.

SCHIE

Responsibilities

• Lead Mechanical Development: Deliver innovative mechanical designs for server and cooling systems, integrating thermal, structural, and electrical constraints with a deep understanding of server architecture and adjacencies.

• Predictive Analysis & Empirical Validation: Apply advanced modeling (FEA, CFD, tolerance analysis) and empirical testing to validate structural, thermal, and reliability performance.

• Design for Manufacturing & Reliability: Ensure manufacturability, cost-efficiency, and long-term reliability through material selection, tolerance control, supplier engagement, and understanding of tooling and manufacturing processes.

• Drive for Results: Set clear goals with measurable outcomes, manage risk, and ensure timely delivery of high-quality hardware solutions across product lines.

• Strategic Thinking: Translate business and customer needs into scalable mechanical strategies that align with long-term product and platform vision.

• Technology Pathfinding: Develop and explore innovative design strategies that anticipate future trends, opportunities, and industry shifts.

• Develop Technical Talent: Mentor engineers to become thought leaders, fostering growth through challenging assignments and continuous feedback.

• Engineering Rigor & Agility: Balance innovation with disciplined execution, ensuring quality as a key participant in structured design reviews, test planning, and root cause analysis.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with electrical, thermal, reliability, and other domains to deliver cohesive, customer-focused solutions.

• Invent & Protect: Identify and develop intellectual property, encouraging patent filings and contributing to Microsofts innovation portfolio.

• Tool & Process Advancement: Evaluate and implement new tools, technologies, and methodologies to improve design quality and team productivity.

Qualifications

• Required Q