Senior Research Scientist

The Microsoft Discovery and Quantum (MDQ) Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), part of the newly named Microsoft Discovery and Quantum organization, is working on the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for science! We are a diverse, entrepreneurial, and multi-disciplinary group of scientists, researchers, and engineers with a passion for using AI to accelerate scientific discovery for businesses and scientists around the world.

We are seeking a Senior Research Scientist to work on groundbreaking research projects, taking these from research into product. You will collaborate with scientists, engineers, and designers across Microsoft. You will have an opportunity to build and train state-of-the-art models, and opportunities to both apply and advance existing approaches of using Large Language Models (LLMs) for software engineering, from using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to evaluation. Most importantly, you will have an opportunity to work closely with several developer product teams to run experiments, evaluate, iterate, and improve your AI projects on a large scale.

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

• Initiate and advance research to advance state-of-the-art in AI for science
• Collaborate across disciplines with product teams across Microsoft 
• Stay up to date with the research literature and product advances for AI in the sciences
• Build large-scale AI experiments and models
• Embody our culture and values.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Doctorate in relevant field
  • OR equivalent experience. 
• 1+ year(s) experience in a collaborative environment.

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. 

• Doctorate in relevant field AND 2+ years related research experience
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Experience publishing academic papers as a lead author or essential contributor.
• Experience participating in a top conference in relevant research domain.

Research 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

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until July 7, 2025.

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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