Microsoft
Principal Design Engineer, Interactive Graphics, Copilot
$143K–$304K
United States · On-site · Principal · Full-time · Posted Oct 7, 2026
- Experience
- Master's degree route: 4+ years; bachelor's degree route: 6+ years; or 8+ years; equivalent experience also accepted.
- Education
- Master's or bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Graphic Design, Product Design, Visual Design, Human Computer Interaction, or related field; or equivalent experience.
About the job
Creates and ships expressive, code-driven interactive graphics and motion experiences for Copilot, balancing visual craft with usability, accessibility, and browser performance.
What you'll do
- Invent, prototype, and refine interactive visual experiences, motion, shaders, and generative graphics.
- Build production-ready components and reusable graphics systems, partnering with engineering on integration, testing, and maintenance.
- Profile and optimize browser graphics; support accessibility, reduced motion, graceful degradation, and cross-browser/device behavior.
What they ask for
- Master's degree in a listed or related field and 4+ years’ experience in product/service design and/or shipping production code; or bachelor's degree and 6+ years; or 8+ years; or equivalent experience.
- Demonstrated ability to originate and develop visual ideas in code, with strong motion and interaction design craft.
- Hands-on real-time browser graphics experience using WebGL or WebGPU, including custom shaders.
- Strong JavaScript/TypeScript and contemporary browser engineering skills.
Nice to have
- Experience with WebGPU, compute, GPU profiling, or efficient procedural/generative graphics.
- Experience building reusable motion/graphics systems, designing AI or assistant experiences, or sharing craft through writing, open source, teaching, or mentorship.
Pay
USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year (base salary); USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year (base salary)
Tools
JavaScript/TypeScript, WebGL, WebGPU, GLSL, WGSL, Three.js, React Three Fiber, GSAP
AI focus
Designs interactive graphics and assistant experiences for Copilot; explores ways to make changing or complex assistant states understandable. AI-specific background is welcome, not required.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative