Overview

We’re looking for a passionate UX Researcher to join Office AI (OAI)

OAI is a horizontal platform team within the Copilot ecosystem, driving shared capabilities, infrastructure, and design patterns that power Copilot experiences across M365.

It is redefining productivity by spearheading AI-first horizontal experiences like comprehension, audio overviews, agents, digital workers, proactive intelligence, and generative artefact creation —problem spaces where traditional design patterns don't apply and user mental models are still forming.

As a UX Researcher, you’ll help:

• Understand evolving mental models for AI-first productivity — uncover how users perceive Copilot, agentic workflows, and generative experiences, and translate those insights into intuitive design patterns.
• Identify barriers to adoption and trust by exploring friction points, confidence gaps, and challenges that impact user engagement
• Drive cross-surface impact by operating across apps, platforms, and incubation tracks — ensuring insights don’t stay siloed but lift the entire Copilot ecosystem.
• Embedding research into design and engineering workflows to close knowledge gaps, prioritise accessibility, and mitigate risks early.
• Delivering actionable, evidence-based insights that amplify the voice of our customers and guide innovation at scale.

This opportunity will allow you to:

• Accelerate your career growth through strategic impact on next-generation productivity.
• Deepen your expertise in AI-first experiences and agentic design patterns.
• Collaborate with a world-class product team across Hyderabad, Redmond, and global OPG hubs.

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:

UX researcher will be responsible for:

• Defining research plans for incubation tracks
• Clarifies what assumptions must be validated upfront so teams can move fast with confidence
• Execute mixed-methods studies to validate desirability & usability
• Rapid research loops that confirm what’s resonating and surface friction early—before engineering investment.
• Develop eval rubrics with science & engineering
• Establishes consistent metrics for trust, comprehension, and interaction quality, derived from user insights enabling scalable assessment across teams.
• Translate insights into clear, actionable guidance
• Converts research into decision-ready recommendations for Design, PM, and Engineering, directly unblocking next steps.
• Deliver crisp narratives and artifacts
• Produces high-clarity storylines that align partners around the same problem framing and accelerate decision-making.
• Build and maintain reusable research frameworks
  Creates scalable structures—templates, repositories, behavior models—that uplift speed, consistency, and decision hygiene org-wide.

Qualifications Required Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 1+ year(s) User Experience Research experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 2+ years User Experience Research experience
• OR equivalent experience.
• Proven experience in UX research across product strategy and design execution.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5+ years in UX research with domain expertise in productivity or enterprise tools.
• Experience influencing both product direction and detailed experience design.
• Familiarity with AI-first workflows and ethical evaluation frameworks.

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.