Member of Technical Staff - Prompt Engineer

Microsoft • Mountain View, CA

11h • Onsite

About The Position

Overview
Empower Every Learner. Shape the Future of Education with Microsoft AI. Hello future teammate! We're on quite the bold mission; we're building an AI companion that's truly empathetic, kind, and equal partners to our users. This isn't an assistant—it's a thoughtful collaborator that grows alongside the people they serve. We believe AI should elevate human potential through genuine connection and mutual understanding.

You'll join our small team as a Prompt Engineer, the architect of these relationships. You'll craft the foundations that enable meaningful human-AI partnerships. You'll shape how our companions think, respond, and evolve through language—if you'll allow slight anthropomorphization, teach them how to be their best selves. You're somewhat of a designer, somewhat of an engineer, and somewhat of a mad scientist. You'll work intimately with the design and leadership team—because this is the product!—you're designing the core of the experience.

This isn't just engineering—it's a profound exploration of what connection can mean in the age of artificial intelligence. No big deal. Just another Tuesday.

What we are looking for

Chain-of-thought experience: prompting techniques that guide AI systems through reasoning processes
A novel prompting discovery: a really interesting challenge that you've solved in a creative way
Scaled implementation: you've shipping prompted systems that work reliably at production scale with diverse user populations
Evaluation design: you've built robust testing frameworks to measure AI behavior against goals
User-centric approach: proven understanding of how prompting decisions impact the lived experience of people who interact with AI
A wonderful writer who loves words, storytelling, or linguistics.
Effective written communication skills: able to convey complex information clearly, concisely, and effectively for various audiences
Comfort with ambiguity in an exponentially growing space
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.
By applying to this U.S. Mountain View, CA position, you are required to be local to the San Francisco area and in office 4 days a week.Starting January 26, 2026, MAI employees are expected to work from a designated Microsoft office at least four days a week if they live within 50 miles (U.S.) or 25 miles (non-U.S., country-specific) of that location. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

• Master's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.
• 2+ years of experience with large language models
• 2+ years of experience working as a prompt engineer or similar field
• A non-traditional background: philosophy, linguistics, psychology, therapy, or literature.
• An understanding of conversation design or product design.
• Familiarity with both quantitative metrics and qualitative assessment methods.
• Experience with personalization systems that adapt to individual user needs.
• Adversarial prompting experience or conducted some unhinged experiments.
• Ethical experience with demonstrated social impact.

Responsibilities

• Design & develop prompting techniques for emotional and intellectual use cases
• Establish frameworks for AI companions to navigate complex social and ethical situations with nuance and care
• Create evaluations to measure both technical/practical performance and non-deterministic performance like EQ
• Teach others prompting techniques and ways-of-working to elevate the prompting skill throughout the team
• Research & implement novel prompting techniques
• Embody our culture and values.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level