Senior Applied Scientist and Principal Applied Scientist (Multiple openings)

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

About The Position

Are you passionate about advancing Artificial Intelligence through innovative research, development, and deployment? Are you excited about applying your expertise to help shape the future of AI technologies and their impact on productivity and collaboration? We are looking for Senior Applied Scientist and Principal Applied Scientist (multiple openings). These roles are marked by progressively greater responsibility, technical expertise, and leadership aligned to M365 Core’s priorities. The position provides opportunities to contribute to transformative AI solutions and to shape the future of productivity, communication, and intelligent experiences across Microsoft platforms. In close partnership with engineers, product managers, and researchers, you design, develop, and rigorously evaluate machine learning models and AI systems that power the core capabilities of M365—including productivity, collaboration, and security. Your efforts enable the delivery of innovative, personalized, and efficient solutions that drive productivity and add value to millions of users worldwide, directly supporting the unique objectives of the M365 Core team. 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.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years related experience (e.g., statistics predictive analytics, research)
OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 1+ year(s) related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
OR equivalent experience.
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 Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research) OR equivalent experience.
OR equivalent experience.
Experience in developing and deploying production-grade ML pipelines and shipping internet scale, low latency and high throughput systems AI products as part of a product team with customer/End-result/Metrics driven in design and development.
Experience working across multiple points in the product cycle, from ideation to shipping.
Experience in applied ML/statistical modeling/quantitative analysis/deep learning techniques; building and fine-tuning models (retrieval/classification/generation) on large-scale LLM/SLM data; shipping ML/AI at internet scale; and applying deep learning techniques and drive end-to-end AI product development (RAG, Search, Recommendation, NLP, Document Understanding, etc.).
Experience programming in Python; experience with C#, Java, or C++ .
Background in a highly quantitative STEM field or equivalent applied experience, with evidence of research or production impact.
3+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).

Responsibilities

Collaborate with AI researchers, engineers, and multidisciplinary teams within M365 Core to design, build, and deliver end-to-end machine learning solutions optimized for human-human and human-AI interactions across productivity and collaboration scenarios.
Lead and contribute to research and development initiatives in language model training, evaluation, and quality assessment with a specific focus on advancing the foundational capabilities and enterprise solutions of M365 Core.
Design, develop, and refine robust ML pipelines, including data cleaning, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, deployment, and optimization.
Adapt, extend or enhance the capability of large language models (LLMs) using a combination of supervised finetuning, reinforcement learning, and apply advanced techniques such as chain of thought prompting, agent orchestration, and synthetic data generation to meet evolving business needs.
Remain current with the latest advancements in ML, AI, digital signal processing, and responsible AI practices, contributing to intellectual property portfolios through publications, patents, and libraries.
Develop and deploy live production systems as part of integrated product teams, supporting all phases of the product cycle from ideation to shipping, post-launch optimization, and ongoing improvements.
Champion ethics, fairness, and privacy in AI system development, contributing to policy creation and ensuring responsible research and data collection practices.
Document work in progress, experimentation results, and share findings to promote a culture of innovation and transparency.
Mentor and develop early-in-career team members, establish best practices, and collaborate with academic communities to build a robust recruiting pipeline for research talent.
Present research findings at conferences and industry events, shaping the dialogue around AI-powered solutions for enterprise and communication platforms.