Member of Technical Staff, Microsoft Robotics (Creative Design)

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

20d•$119,800 - $261,000

About The Position

Microsoft’s Discovery and Quantum (MDQ) division develops and delivers advanced artificial intelligence (AI), cloud-enabled capabilities, and strategic technologies to help solve the world’s major challenges. From accelerating scientific discovery with advanced AI tools, to pioneering breakthroughs in quantum computing, to advancing robotics and AI capabilities that drive real-world impact, joining MDQ means building the future, partnering with fast-moving innovators, and operating in a high-impact, mission-driven environment. At Microsoft Robotics within MDQ, we build and deploy technologies that enable people, robots, and AI agents to collaborate and achieve more. We are building Microsoft’s platform for physical intelligence—an integrated robotics software and AI platform that brings together humans, robots, and agents through robotics AI models, innovative teaming solutions and experiences, physically grounded agentic AI workflows, trustworthy test and evaluation, and real-world customer-focused validation. Built on Microsoft’s core platforms and delivered through and with a global ecosystem of partners and customers, this platform accelerates AI for the physical world and helps robotics solutions move from experimentation to reliable, scaled deployment. We are hiring a Member of Technical Staff, Microsoft Robotics (Creative Design), at the Senior level, to lead the end-to-end design of innovative experiences for robotic operations, fleet management, and mission management. This role will define how operators, field engineers, and mission planners monitor, command, and coordinate heterogeneous fleets of robots, agents, and humans across diverse operating environments. The designer, a.k.a. creative technologist, will craft intuitive dashboards, task-assignment workflows, real-time telemetry views, and alerting systems that enable human teammates, augmented with AI agents, to maintain situational awareness, intervene when necessary, and optimize robot fleet utilization at scale. Working at the intersection of robotics, globally connected operations, and enterprise UX, this designer will shape the operational interface of Microsoft’s robotics platform. Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. #MicrosoftRobotics #MDQ

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 5+ years experience working in product or service design OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 4+ years experience working in product or service design OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role.
Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience working in product or service design OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 6+ years experience working in product or service design OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
Experience designing interactive multi-player or fleet management interfaces in context of operations center or command-and-control experiences for robotic systems (e.g., mobile robots, autonomous vehicles, drones).
Demonstrated portfolio of data-dense dashboard design, real-time telemetry visualization, or geospatial mapping interfaces, suitable for engineering and operational insights.
Familiarity with robotics operational concepts such as multi-robot task allocation, mission planning, remote teleoperation, or supervisory control of autonomous systems.
Experience with AI-accelerated industry tools, such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, or equivalent prototyping and design tools, with demonstrated ability to create high-fidelity interactive prototypes.
Understanding of accessibility standards (WCAG) and inclusive design practices for operational and enterprise software.
Experience designing for degraded or contested network environments where latency, intermittent connectivity, and information freshness affect user experience decisions.
Experience designing with 3D, spatial, or map-based interfaces.

Responsibilities

Design end-to-end fleet management and mission operations experiences, including operator dashboards, task queuing and scheduling interfaces, fleet health monitoring views, and real-time geospatial situational awareness displays.
Create wireframes, journey maps, user scenarios, task flows, and personas for robotic fleet operators, mission planners, and field supervisors across commercial and defense deployment contexts.
Develop interaction models for multi-robot coordination workflows, including mission assignment, waypoint planning, contingency handling, and operator-initiated override or abort sequences.
Produce visual designs from concept to delivery for fleet telemetry displays, alert and notification systems, historical mission analytics views, and robot status summary panels.
Build and validate interactive prototypes that demonstrate and integrate fleet management concepts to stakeholders, customers, and engineering teams, incorporating feedback loops to iterate toward optimal operator experiences.
Collaborate with program managers, software engineers, and robotics engineers to define and iterate on robot fleet management product features, ensuring security, accessibility, and operational reliability are embedded from the outset.
Contribute to and drive adoption of design system components (e.g., map controls, timeline visualizations, status indicators, alert patterns) aligned with Microsoft’s Fluent design language and adapted for robotics operational contexts.
Communicate a compelling, convincing product story to leadership and cross-disciplinary audiences, adjusting narrative depending on stakeholder context from technical deep-dives to executive summaries.
Estimate design schedules, define and prioritize product design plans, and independently incorporate security, trust, and safety considerations into the user experience for mission-critical robotic operations.
Leverage ideation methodologies to lead design solutions for complex fleet operations products involving many constraints (e.g., network latency, intermittent connectivity, multi-domain robot types), balancing business, experience, technology, and security perspectives.
Provide guidance to team, ensuring full understanding of the original design vision and linking design decisions to established problems, user needs, and program goals.