Principal UX Researcher

Microsoft•Mountain View, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Microsoft AI, we are inventing an AI Companion for everyone – an AI designed with real personality and emotional intelligence that’s always in your corner. Defined by effortless communication, extraordinary capabilities, and a new level of connection and support, we want Copilot to define the next wave of technology. This is a rare opportunity to be a part of a team crafting something that challenges everything we know about software and consumer products. We’re a small, friendly, fast-moving team, supporting one another to do the best work of our lives, always looking to break new ground with an unshakeable dedication to the user. We are proud of what we build, how we build it, and that our products define the AI era while earning the trust of our users. We run lean, prioritize quality, meaningful innovation and polish, and always root our decisions in research and evidence. We ship regularly, so your work will have real and immediate impact. 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. Our Core Values: Quality. We only deliver category-defining products that delight with their ease of use, guaranteed reliability, and beautiful, coherent design. Simplicity. We don’t overcomplicate. Less is more, always. Safety & Security. The highest standards of security, safety and responsibility are non-negotiable across all our business areas. Evaluation. We pay close attention to signals and aren’t afraid to change course when data and our experience tells us to. We are also careful with our metrics, focusing on delivering long-term sustainable value (rather than short-term KPIs). Kindness. Kindness is at the heart of our org and how we conduct ourselves. We care for, and support and respect one another, beginning again and learning every day. Our Design Principles: Create Magical Moments Guide the Journey Personality is Pivotal Always be Earning Trust Sweat the Details Be in Service to People The Role: As a senior leader in the UXR org, you will own the quantitative research strategy for our core product pillars. You will partner deeply with Data Science, Product Management, and Engineering to create a holistic view of the user journey. Your goal is to turn complex behavioral data into actionable frameworks that drive high-level business decisions.

Requirements

Doctorate in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 3+ years User Experience Research experience
OR Master's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 4+ years User Experience Research experience
OR Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 6+ years User Experience Research experience OR equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

The Expert: You have 8+ years of experience in Quantitative UX Research, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or a related social science field within a high-growth tech environment.
The Translator: You speak "Data Science" fluently. You know how to marry log data with self-reported data to tell a cohesive story.
Technical Proficiency: You are an expert in R or Python for data analysis and have advanced SQL skills to pull your own data. You are comfortable working with large, messy datasets.
Psychometrics Expert: You are skilled in scale development and validation, ensuring that when we ask a human to rate a response as "3/5," that data is statistically reliable and valid.
Behavioral Data at Scale: You can analyze high-volume interaction logs to find patterns
Familiarity with ML Workflows: You understand the lifecycle of an LLM—from pre-training to fine-tuning and inference—and know where human insights provide the most leverage.

Responsibilities

Bridge the Data Gap: Partner with Data Scientists to triangulate product telemetry with behavioral research, creating a 360-degree view of user health and opportunity areas.
Drive Innovation: Design and execute complex quantitative studies (large-scale surveys, longitudinal tracking, MaxDiff, Conjoint, etc.) to identify unmet needs and white-space opportunities for AI features.
Metric Definition: Develop and refine "Human-Centered Metrics" that track the success of our AI models from a user perspective.
Define "Quality" at Scale: Develop robust, multidimensional frameworks to translate user-needs into quantitative benchmarks.
Strategic Influence: Present compelling, data-driven narratives to executive leadership that influence the 12–24 month product roadmap.
Mentorship: Set the standard for quantitative excellence within the UXR team, mentoring junior researchers and advocating for rigorous methodologies.

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