Senior Applied Scientist

We’re looking for a Senior Applied Scientist with deep expertise in applied AI and a strong track record of delivering intelligent, user-facing experiences at scale. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of enterprise productivity using LLMs in BizChat, a flagship product in the Microsoft portfolio.

You’ll join a fast-paced, collaborative environment that brings together talent from across Microsoft—including Microsoft Research—to push the boundaries of what’s possible with Large Language Models (LLMs), reasoning systems, and real-time orchestration platforms.

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.

Responsibilities

• Advance the science: Design and run experiments, define and validate metrics, and develop ML pipelines and models in areas like reinforcement learning, reasoning and Chain-of-Thought (CoT) optimization, and LLMs—all while upholding best practices in Responsible AI and Privacy-Preserving ML.
• Drive product innovation: Partner with Engineering, PM, and Design to translate product vision and industry trends into scalable, reliable, and agile architecture.
• Collaborate across Microsoft: Work closely with Microsoft Research, Azure, AI platform teams, and product groups to bring cutting-edge AI into real-world applications.
• Champion customer impact: Engage with customers and internal teams to deeply understand pain points and drive improvements that matter.
• Lead and mentor: Provide technical leadership to junior scientists and engineers, and scale your learnings across the broader product group.
• Define success: Establish and evolve success metrics that reflect platform and product growth.
• Stay ahead: Keep up with the latest research and foster a thriving applied science culture. Publishing is encouraged, though not required.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND experience (e.g., statistics predictive analytics, research)
• OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research) OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND  experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR equivalent experience.
• OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research) OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND  experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR equivalent experience.
• SFT (Supervised Fine Tuning) and/or RL (reinforcement learning) modeling experience.
• Python coding skill.

Other Requirements:

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Statistics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR Doctorate in Statistics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering or related field AND  related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR equivalent experience.
• OR Doctorate in Statistics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering or related field AND  related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR equivalent experience.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

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