Senior Principal Software Architect
Enterprise-wide authority
Career Explorer · Engineering · Software Architecture
Standard where business need supports the level
What the role involves
- Autonomy
- Leads highly consequential ambiguous domains
- Scope
- Multiple business units / global platforms
- Time horizon
- Multi-year
- Expertise and judgement
- Anticipates industry shifts; resolves novel problems; develops other experts
- Expected impact
- Creates durable enterprise advantage or risk reduction
Expected skills (22)
Grouped as human, professional and technical. Target proficiency uses the P1–P5 scale, and each row says what that level means for that particular skill.
Human (10)
| Skill | Importance | Target | What that level looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountability Personal Effectiveness | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Active listening Communication & Influence | Core | P4 | Sets standards, integrates the skill across teams and resolves novel or high-impact problems. |
| Collaboration Collaboration & Leadership | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Critical thinking Thinking & Judgment | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Customer empathy Personal Effectiveness | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Learning agility Thinking & Judgment | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Ownership Personal Effectiveness | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Problem solving Thinking & Judgment | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Verbal communication Communication & Influence | Core | P4 | Sets standards, integrates the skill across teams and resolves novel or high-impact problems. |
| Written communication Communication & Influence | Core | P4 | Sets standards, integrates the skill across teams and resolves novel or high-impact problems. |
Professional (1)
| Skill | Importance | Target | What that level looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business acumen Business & Strategy | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
Technical (11)
| Skill | Importance | Target | What that level looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programming fundamentals Software Engineering | Core | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| CI/CD Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Code review Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Debugging Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Enterprise architecture Enterprise Systems & Automation | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Reliability engineering Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Secure coding Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Software architecture Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Software design patterns Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Unit testing Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
| Version control Software Engineering | Supporting | P5 | Defines enterprise or industry practice, develops other experts and shapes strategy through the skill. |
Career ladder
Reached from
Next steps
- Distinguished Software ArchitectIC7IC promotion
Move from enterprise authority to company/industry authority; establish new paradigms and visibly shape company-wide direction.
What changes to advance
Move from enterprise authority to company/industry authority; establish new paradigms and visibly shape company-wide direction.
Source: SFIA; Microsoft Careers · JF0039-IC6