Overview

The Azure AI Knowledge team is leading the way to deliver the next chapter in retrieval augmented generation by combining knowledge with Agents at scale. We are expanding Azure AI Search, to meet the demands of complex queries that require refinement, reasoning and reflection to deliver high quality results for both people and LLMs. Our customers span different industries, corpus sizes and have many key scenarios. Our work includes:

• Designing, building, and maintaining backend services with external and internal language model dependencies.

• Partnering with Applied Science to support and drive product evolution at scale.

• Working directly with GPUs to support production ML workloads at scale.

• Evaluation of production integrations to ensure end-to-end AI quality of Applied Science deliverables.

You can follow our progression from better search, to RAG, to agentic retrieval:

• Azure AI Search: Outperforming vector search with hybrid retrieval and ranking capabilities – Microsoft Community Hub

• Raising the bar for RAG excellence: introducing generative query rewriting and new ranking model

• Up to 40% better relevance for complex queries with new agentic retrieval engine

As a team, we leverage the diverse backgrounds and experiences of passionate engineers, scientists, and program managers to help us realize our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We believe great products are built by inclusive teams of customer-obsessed individuals who trust each other and work closely together.  We collaborate regularly across the company with teams like Bing and Microsoft Research.

A major aspect of this role is to push our development of knowledge retrieval to the frontier. Someone who can work closely with an Applied Sciences team to solve the hardest customer challenges. Someone who understand where the latest reasoning models are best suited and can support the integration of low latency options in places where speed is critical.

If you are passionate about working on the latest and hottest areas in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning , all the while making search better for customers across the world and being part of one of the biggest cloud providers, then this is the team you’re looking for!

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain Azure backend services and associated APIs.

• Leverage AI Tooling to accelerate the delivery of production services.

• Partner with Applied Science to bring high quality prompts, ML models and pre and post processing components into production in a secure, reliable, and scalable way.

• Providing evaluation tooling and support of production integrations to ensure end-to-end AI quality of Applied Science deliverables.

• Focus on high quality goods which includes evaluation support

• Understanding of state and state management for a production service at scale

• Contribute to team plans, documents, and communication in a clear and efficient way.

Qualifications Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field 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.

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 Qualifications

• Development of Azure Services with full understanding of service release and live-site responsibilities.

Coding in C# and Python in a production system.

Ability to move fast while ensuring quality at scale in a collaborative team setting leveraging AI Tooling

Development experience with large language models.

• 2+ years’ experience developing and deploying live production systems as part of a product team.

• Coding in C++ or Java in a production system.

• Excellent hybrid work skills – clear synchronous and asynchronous communication, strong teamwork, and collaboration skills

• Customer focused, strategic, drives for results, is self-motivated, and has a propensity for action.

• Problem solver: ability to solve problems that the world has not solved before.

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

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.