Overview

Help us develop the retrieval stack that powers M365 Copilot.

We are looking for a Principal Applied Scientist to help shape the future of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Our team powers the retrieval engine behind M365 Copilot Chat, Search and Agents. This role is a high impact and high visibility technical leadership role with the remit of developing our next generation retrieval engine and shipping improved response quality to millions of users using M365 Copilot every day.

You will partner closely with engineering and product teams to innovate, design and evaluate end-to-end retrieval solutions that serve millions of enterprise users. This is a high-impact and hands-on role where you are expected to take ideas from prototype to all the way to production delivering measurable improvements to end user experience.

You’ll join a fast-paced, collaborative environment that brings together talent from across Microsoft—including Microsoft Research—to push the boundaries of what’s possible with Large Language Models (LLMs), reasoning systems, real-time orchestration platforms and modern personalized search and recommender systems.

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

• Advance the science: Design and run experiments, define and validate metrics, and develop semantic retrieval solutions—all while upholding best practices in Responsible AI and Privacy-Preserving ML.
• Drive product innovation: Partner with Engineering, PM, and Design to translate product vision and industry trends into scalable, reliable, and agile architecture.
• Collaborate across Microsoft: Work closely with Microsoft Research, Azure, AI platform teams, and product groups to bring cutting-edge AI into real-world applications.
• Champion customer impact: Engage with customers and internal teams to deeply understand pain points and drive improvements that matter.
• Lead and mentor: Provide technical leadership to junior scientists and engineers, and scale your learnings across the broader product group.
• Define success: Establish and evolve success metrics that reflect platform and product growth.
• Stay ahead: Keep up with the latest research and foster a thriving applied science culture. Publishing is encouraged, though not required.

Qualifications Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ 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 4+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of working on modern semantic retrieval technologies ( e.g. ColBERT, SPLADE, ANNs) and/or proven experience of shipping search or recommender systems at scale.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 9+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
• OR equivalent experience.
• 5+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).
• 2+ years experience presenting at conferences or other events in the outside research/industry community as an invited speaker.
• 5+ years experience conducting research as part of a research program (in academic or industry settings).
• 3+ years experience developing and deploying live production systems, as part of a product team.
• 3+ years experience developing and deploying products or systems at multiple points in the product cycle from ideation to shipping.
• Demonstrated experience in modern large-scale AI.
• Demonstrated written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, designers, and other engineers.
• Passion for learning new technologies and staying up to date with industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies in AI.
• Proven ability to collaborate and contribute to a positive, inclusive work environment, fostering knowledge sharing and growth within the team.
• Proven research track record in a domain related field supported by exceptional papers.

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.