We use analytics and advertising cookies to understand how the site is used and whether our ads on Facebook and Instagram work. They are set only if you accept. See our Privacy Policy for details.
Home / Compensation / Microsoft / Security Engineer
Total compensation for a Microsoft Security Engineer ranges from about $147K at the entry level to $1.2M+ at the most senior bands, with a typical mid-level package around $343K. Below is the full breakdown by level - base salary, annual equity, and bonus - from public-source data.
Public-source estimates (Beta). Last updated 2026-05. Figures are annualized USD.
| Level | Years | Base (p50) | Equity/yr (p50) | Bonus (p50) | Total (p25-p90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59 (Sec Eng)Security Engineer (New Grad) | 0-2 YOE | $132K | $19K | $16K | $147K - $207K |
| 60-61 (Sec Eng II)Security Engineer II | 2-5 YOE | $172K | $41K | $23K | $198K - $322K |
| 62-63 (Senior Sec)Senior Security Engineer | 5-9 YOE | $217K | $91K | $39K | $282K - $505K |
| 64-65 (Principal Sec)Principal Security Engineer | 9-14 YOE | $262K | $202K | $56K | $415K - $810K |
| 66+ (Partner Sec)Partner Security Engineer | 13+ YOE | $317K | $326K | $97K | $590K - $1.2M |
Entry-level security.
Mid-level. Common entry from FAANG security orgs.
Senior IC.
Principal IC. MSRC / Defender platform leadership.
Partner security IC. External hires rare.
Microsoft security uses the SDE numeric levels. MSRC, Defender, Identity, and Azure Security orgs hire heavily. Bands track SDE within ~3%; offensive-security and threat-intel specialists negotiate above.
7 rounds. 6 of them can be practised here - each one below links the rep that trains it.
Other levels: SDE / SDE I · SDE II · Principal SDE / Lvl 65-66 loops →
Recruiter screen
30-45 minutes. Background, level calibration (SDE II vs Senior is contested), team interest, scope of past work. Recruiter often probes cross-team impact stories early.
Phone screen (technical)
60 minutes. One coding problem at Medium-to-Hard difficulty plus 2-3 behavioral questions with senior framing. Pass to advance to onsite.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: Coding round 1
60 minutes. Algorithmic problem at Medium-to-Hard. Edge cases and clean code expected as table stakes; the differentiator is depth on follow-ups.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: Coding round 2 (sometimes)
60 minutes. Some Senior loops include a second coding round; others replace it with a design or applied round. Often more open-ended (system design lite, OOD problem, or extending an existing system).
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: System design 1 (product/applied)
60 minutes. Senior-scope service design: notification system at scale, distributed key-value store, basic search, recommendation system. Drive the conversation, defend tradeoffs explicitly.
Free rep: Design walkthrough: Design a URL Shortener (bit.ly) →Onsite: System design 2 (infra/architecture)
60 minutes. Lower-level design: distributed cache, rate limiter, log aggregation, message queue. Azure depth (Service Fabric, Cosmos DB, Service Bus) helps for cloud-adjacent teams.
Free rep: Design walkthrough: Design a Distributed Cache (Memcached / Redis Cluster) →Onsite: As-app (hiring manager)
60-75 minutes. Senior IC behavioral signal. Stories about technical leadership, mentoring SDE IIs, navigating cross-team disagreement, recovering technical decisions. Growth Mindset at senior scope.
Free rep: STAR answers: Learning from Failure →The full Microsoft prep pack → what they value, topic emphasis, and the questions candidates ask.
Get one interview question, one comp insight, and one job-market signal each week - free.
Free forever. Unsubscribe anytime.
The offer calculator compares your current and target offers 4 years out - vesting, refresh grants, and federal + state + FICA tax - so you negotiate with real take-home numbers.
Open the offer calculator