Overview

As a Member of Technical Staff, AI Safety Post-Training, you will work to develop and implement cutting-edge safety methodologies for post-training large language models with agentic and reasoning capabilities that are served to millions of users through Copilot every day. We work on the bleeding edge and leverage the most powerful pretrained models and algorithms, making it critical that we ensure our AI systems behave safely and align with organizational values. You will be responsible for designing novel safety evaluation frameworks, curating high-quality data for robust evaluations and training, prototyping new safety capabilities, and developing safety-focused fine-tuning algorithms. We're looking for outstanding individuals with deep expertise in AI safety who can translate research insights into practical solutions while being a strong communicator and collaborative teammate. The ideal candidate takes the initiative in exploring new safety methodologies and enjoys building world-class, trustworthy AI experiences in a fast-paced applied research environment.

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.

Starting January 26, 2026, MAI employees are expected to work from a designated Microsoft office at least four days a week if they live within 50 miles (U.S.) or 25 miles (non-U.S., country-specific) of that location. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction.

Responsibilities

• Leverage expertise in AI safety to uncover potential risks and develop novel mitigation strategies, including alignment techniques, constitutional AI approaches, RLHF, and robustness improvements for large language models.

• Create and implement comprehensive evaluation frameworks and red-teaming methodologies to assess model safety across diverse scenarios, edge cases, and potential failure modes.

• Build automated safety testing systems, generalize safety solutions into repeatable frameworks, and write efficient code for safety model pipelines and intervention systems.

• Maintain a user-oriented perspective by understanding safety needs from user perspectives, validating safety approaches through user research, and serving as a trusted advisor on AI safety matters.

• Track advances in AI safety research, identify relevant state-of-the-art techniques, and adapt safety algorithms to drive innovation in production systems serving millions of users.

• Embody our culture and values.

Qualifications

• Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, or related technical discipline AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python

• OR equivalent experience.

• Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python

• OR Master’s Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python

• OR equivalent experience.

• Experience prompting and working with large language models.

• Experience writing production-quality Python code.

• Demonstrated interest in Responsible AI.

Software Engineering 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

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 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 $188,000 - $304,200 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

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.