Senior Applied Scientist

Microsoft · Washington · $119,800–$234,700 (stated in the posting)

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Do you want to be part of a team which delivers innovative products and machine learning solutions across Microsoft to hundreds of millions of users every month? Copilot Agents & Search Quality team is at the forefront of the core copilot experiences across Microsoft products including M365 Copilot and Search accelerating productivity to help users find the right information in their organization.

As a Senior Applied Scientist, you will work with other scientists to solve challenging problems that can delight M365 Copilot Chat, Search, and WorkIQ users. You job is to modernize the search stack that powers both Agentic and classic search entry points by advancing the state-of-the-art search algorithm in an enterprise domain. You will leverage the most advanced, large language models (LLMs), vigorously improve sparse, dense, and multimodal retrieval algorithms at scale and apply advanced ML to jointly optimizing query understanding and the retrieval algorithm.

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced scientist with expertise in machine learning. As a Senior Applied Scientist in Copilot Agents & Search Quality team, you will work in an exciting and fast-paced environment, collaborating closely with teams across the company. You will work as part of an organization that brings together talent in the areas of large language models, deep learning, information retrieval, software engineering. We value and encourage diversity in the belief that it leads to both great workplaces and great products.  

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.

• Lead applied research that improves retrieval quality for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, Copilot Search, Work IQ, and agent experiences. Evaluate advances in information retrieval, NLP, and large language models; adapt the most promising approaches to enterprise data and product needs.

• Modernize the search stack for agentic and traditional search. Develop and improve sparse and dense retrieval methods, enterprise-adapted models, and query-understanding techniques. Work with engineering and platform teams to bring effective approaches into production at scale.

• Define and measure what better retrieval means. Use representative datasets, rigorous offline evaluation, statistical analysis, and production experiments to identify quality gaps, test hypotheses, understand model behavior, and communicate results that guide product decisions.

• Own research-backed solutions from problem formulation through deployment. Balance relevance, latency, and efficiency; monitor deployed models against quality and performance expectations; and iterate when results or data change.

• Provide scientific leadership across disciplines. Partner with product, engineering, and research teams to shape priorities, share practical advances, and mentor less experienced scientists. Document methods and findings, and contribute to publications or intellectual property where appropriate.

Required Qualifications:

• 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. 

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, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ 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.
• 3+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).
• Experience presenting at conferences or other events in the outside research/industry community as an invited speaker.
• 3+ years experience conducting research as part of a research program (in academic or industry settings).
• 1+ year(s) experience developing and deploying live production systems, as part of a product team.
• 1+ year(s) experience developing and deploying products or systems at multiple points in the product cycle from ideation to shipping.
• Experience with agentic search, including query planning, iterative retrieval, evidence selection, and evaluating the quality and efficiency of grounded responses.
• Experience applying machine learning to information retrieval, search relevance, or related retrieval problems.
• Experience shipping and evaluating deep-learning models in production at scale, including diagnosing quality or performance regressions.
• Solid programming skills in Python and experience with a modern deep-learning framework such as PyTorch.
• Experience designing offline evaluations and interpreting online experiments to make product decisions.
• Ability to lead an ambiguous technical problem and collaborate with engineering and product teams to deliver a solution.

#CAP #Copilot

Applied Sciences IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200 - $261,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

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