Principal Applied Scientist - CoreAI

Microsoft • Boston, MA

1d • $142,800 - $331,200

About The Position

The CoreAI organization at Microsoft builds the end-to-end AI stack and supports Azure AI innovation and Microsoft products including GitHub, Office, Teams, and Xbox. Its work includes Responsible AI, Azure OpenAI, Model as a Service, Azure Machine Learning, Cognitive Services, and global Azure AI infrastructure. The organization aims to deliver AI systems that are safe, secure, and trustworthy, combining AI research with production systems at scale.

The Principal Applied Scientist will develop machine learning techniques advancing safety, alignment, and trustworthy AI. The role collaborates with product, research, and engineering teams to design, build, and maintain responsible AI systems, from early development and experimentation through production, monitoring, and ongoing iteration.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, or a related field and 6+ years of related experience, such as statistics, predictive analytics, or research; or a master's degree in one of these fields and 4+ years of related experience; or a doctorate in one of these fields and 3+ years of related experience; or equivalent experience.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements, including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.

Nice To Haves

• Experience and familiarity with large language models (LLMs).
• Experience with and a solid foundation in large distributed systems, algorithms, and software engineering principles.
• Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in a research/ML engineering or applied research scientist position, ideally focused on AI safety.
• Hands-on experience with deep learning and transformer-based models.
• Strong problem-solving and analytics skills, with a proactive approach to challenges.
• Ability to thrive in fast-moving environments where priorities shift and definitions evolve.
• Ability to take end-to-end ownership and learn what is needed to achieve results.
• Comfort working independently and collaborating across teams.
• Understanding of LLM training and fine-tuning methods, including distillation, supervised fine-tuning, and policy optimization.

Responsibilities

• Develop machine learning techniques that advance safety, alignment, and trustworthy AI.
• Collaborate with product, research, and engineering teams to design, build, and maintain responsible AI systems.
• Contribute across the system lifecycle, from early-stage development and experimentation through production, monitoring, and continuous iteration.

What This Job Offers

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