Oliver Jones

Programming Skills

C++, C#, TypeScript / JavaScript, React, Win32, WinRT, COM, Distributed Systems

Professional Experience

Microsoft — Windows Group

Principal Software Development Engineer
August 2024 – Present

• Led a team of four engineers to build Feature Tuning, a cloud-delivered experimentation platform enabling JSON-defined behavior configuration across C++ and C#.
• Collaborated with the Microsoft AI team, ramping up on the MAI backend server, stabilizing the Windows Operator feature (reducing failure rate from ~60% to <2%), and assisting with migrating the client application from WinUI 3 XAML to Chromium.
• Pioneered a secure enclave-to-cloud communication pipeline, enabling authenticated and trusted data exchange between a VBS enclave and a remote server.
• Architected a distributed component platform for the WinAGI group, enabling parallel feature development across 50+ engineers while maintaining system stability at scale.
• Mentored junior engineers through design reviews, code reviews, and technical guidance, accelerating onboarding and improving code quality.

Senior Software Development Engineer
September 2019 – August 2024

• Technical lead for Windows 11 multitasking features (Alt-Tab, Win-Tab); developed the engineering plan and drove XAML-based implementation for the Windows 11 refresh, coordinating up to six engineers. These surfaces achieved 14B+ successful invocations with >99% reliability.
• Built an internal platform for hosting XAML in Win32 applications using public XAML Islands APIs; identified and fixed ~50 issues in the public platform and served as a XAML subject-matter expert.
• Drove org-wide animation performance standards for the Windows Devices and Experiences organization (~500 engineers), defining UX performance targets and enabling consistent measurement and improvement.

Software Development Engineer II
December 2015 – September 2019

• Individual contributor to high-visibility Windows Desktop UX surfaces across Windows Shell.
• Pioneered XAML-based UX implementations for the Windows Shell, including migrating Task View (Win-Tab) from DirectComposition to XAML.
• Designed, developed, and documented the UserInteractionMode public API; worked across rendering stacks including DirectComposition and GDI.

Software Development Engineer
September 2013 – December 2015

• Individual contributor focused on windowing and multitasking feature development for Windows Shell on Windows 10, including Snap Assist, Tablet Mode, and touchpad gestures.

Other

• Several personal applications in TypeScript and C# including automation tools, web apps, and data-driven utilities.
• Native fluency in Spanish.

Education

Washington University in St. Louis

Master of Science in Computer Science — May 2013
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Operations / Supply Chain Management — May 2012