Senior Applied Scientist, Azure AI Speech

The Azure Artificial Intelligence (AI) Speech Group brings together talent in signal processing, speech modeling, statistical modeling, and deep learning to develop and deliver robust, natural, and scalable speech recognition across a wide range of scenarios and languages.  Our interdisciplinary team of scientists and developers work on all aspects of end-to-end speech technologies, including model training and evaluation, data collection, infrastructure, and service deployment. We are looking for a Senior Applied Scientist who is passionate about advancing the next generation of speech experiences by developing innovative tools and metrics for comprehensive evaluation of Azure AI services. 

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and we’re dedicated to this mission across every aspect of our company. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. Join us and help shape the future of the world. 

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Responsibilities

• Innovate and develop cutting edge benchmarking metrics to advance speech technologies in real-world user scenarios. 

• Develop and execute test plans for qualifying and monitoring the performance of speech services and applications. 

• Collaborate with stakeholders to define user requirements and design evaluation methodologies that align with user experience and product goals. 

• Utilize diverse feedback channels (e.g., A/B testing, flight experiments, and log analysis) to assess the performance and reliability of speech systems in dynamic environments. 

• Stay updated with the latest trends in speech technologies, large language models (LLM), and evaluation techniques, and apply knowledge to ongoing projects. 

Qualifications

Required/Minimum 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.

• 3+ years of experience in one or more of the following areas: speech recognition, large language models, machine learning, deep learning, pattern recognition, statistics. 
• 3+ years of programming experience in Python. 
• 2+ years of experience with PyTorch. 

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/Additional Qualifications:

• Experience in AI benchmarking, such as LLM, speech, computer vision, machine translation, and so on.  

• Publication on top speech and machine learning conferences, such as ICASSP, InterSpeech, ASRU, ICML, ICLR, NeuroIPS, etc. 

• Extensive experience in speech model development. 
• Software development skills and an aptitude for software design, coding, and quality.  

Applied Sciences IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $117,200 - $229,200 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 $153,600 - $250,200 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 February 5, 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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