Principal Data Scientist - AI Infrastructure
About The Position
As a Principal Data Scientist on Microsoft’s AI Infrastructure Data team, you will own end-to-end delivery of strategic data science projects and partner with customers and internal teams to design and implement advanced analytics and AI solutions that create measurable business impact. This hands-on role combines technical expertise with consulting and stakeholder engagement to influence decisions and guide adoption of data-driven strategies. The role focuses on applying data science to AI infrastructure: using fleet-scale telemetry, experimentation, and partner requirements to inform decisions that improve reliability, efficiency, capacity planning, and customer outcomes across Microsoft’s AI systems. The team uses telemetry, experimentation, and modeling to inform infrastructure planning, systems design, product tradeoffs, and operational decisions. You will work across technical domains and partner organizations to identify high-impact opportunities, quantify tradeoffs, and move insights into action and implementation. The AI Infrastructure Data team owns telemetry collection, data infrastructure, processing, experimentation, and measurement for partner teams, systems, and business processes. You will collaborate closely with Data Engineers, Data Infrastructure software engineers, and subject-matter experts, working with hyperscale datasets, systems, and challenges to support Microsoft’s important initiatives.
Requirements
- Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or a related field and 3 or more years of data-science experience; or a master's degree in one of these fields and 5 or more years of data-science experience; or a bachelor's degree in one of these fields and 7 or more years of data-science experience; or equivalent experience.
- Experience managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques, and reporting results.
- 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
- Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or a related field and 4 or more years of data-science experience; or a master's degree in one of these fields and 7 or more years of data-science experience; or a bachelor's degree in one of these fields and 9 or more years of data-science experience; or equivalent experience.
- Proven consulting and stakeholder engagement skills, including the ability to influence decisions.
- Proficiency in Python and SQL.
- Experience with cloud platforms, preferably Azure.
- Knowledge of Responsible AI principles and ethical data practices.
- Experience with software engineering lifecycle practices, including version control, testing, DevOps, and production deployment of machine learning solutions.
- Experience with AI-assisted coding practices and specification-driven development.
Responsibilities
- Own delivery of complex, high-impact data science and AI solutions for strategic consulting engagements.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to define business problems and translate them into actionable AI-driven solutions.
- Acquire, clean, and prepare large datasets for modeling.
- Build and deploy predictive and prescriptive models using modern machine learning techniques.
- Write efficient, maintainable code and ensure scalability for production environments.
- Present findings to senior stakeholders using compelling storytelling and visualizations.
- Explain complex ML and AI concepts to diverse audiences to drive understanding and adoption.
- Act as a trusted advisor to internal teams and customers, ensuring solutions meet business needs.
- Promote responsible AI practices, including fairness, transparency, and explainability in model and application development.
- Stay current with emerging AI technologies, frameworks, and tools to continuously enhance solution capabilities.
Benefits
- Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation; additional information is available at the linked Microsoft pay and benefits page.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
