New

Senior Researcher

Microsoft
$119,800.00 - $234,700.00 / yr
United States, California, Mountain View
Feb 23, 2026
Overview As a Senior Researcher in Applied Sciences Group you will play a pivotal role in advancing Microsoft's mission to empower every individual and organization on the planet to achieve more. You will contribute to the development and integration of cutting-edge AI technologies into Microsoft products and services, ensuring they are inclusive, ethical, and impactful. You will collaborate across product, research and engineering teams to bring innovative solutions to life, applying your expertise in machine learning, data science, and AI to solve complex problems. Your work will directly influence product direction and customer experiences. As Microsoft continues to lead in AI, we are seeking individuals to help tackle some of the most exciting and meaningful challenges in the field. Our vision is to build a truly open architecture platform that enables users to summon tailored AI agents to drive real-world outcomes. This role will combine AI knowledge with applied science expertise, and demonstrate a growth mindset and customer empathy. 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 * Build collaborative relationships with product and business groups to deliver AI-driven impact. * Research and implement state-of-the-art using foundation models, prompt engineering, graphs, multi-agent architectures, as well as classical machine learning techniques. * Fine-tune foundation models using domain-specific datasets. Evaluate model behavior on relevance, bias, hallucination, and response quality via offline evaluations, shadow experiments, online experiments. * Build rapid AI solution prototypes, contribute to production deployment of these solutions and debug production code. * Contribute to papers, patents, and conference presentations. Translate research into production-ready solutions and measure their impact through A/B testing and telemetry that address customer needs. * Ability to use data to identify gaps in AI quality, uncover insights and implement proof of concepts. Qualifications 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. Preferred qualification: 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python 1+ years of experience with generative AI OR LLM/ML algorithms. 1+ years of experience working with Generative AI models and ML stacks. #W+DJOBS 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 $158,400 - $258,000 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.