Jobs and Careers

Senior Applied Scientist

Washington, United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 5 Aug 2026

💰 $234,700/yr($119,800/yr – $234,700/yr)

About the role

Overview

Microsoft is at the forefront of a new era in productivity, with Microsoft 365 Copilot redefining AI-powered experiences across work. The Copilot and Agents Core Office of the CTO shapes intelligent experiences across Microsoft 365 by bridging research and engineering, building core agent capabilities, incubating emerging technologies, and helping product teams scale high-quality AI features. We partner with engineers, researchers, and product teams to prototype bold ideas, validate them in real-world scenarios, and transition them into production-ready systems. Our culture values curiosity, accountability, collaboration, technical depth, user empathy, continuous learning, and open idea-sharing. By joining this team, you’ll help shape how Copilot and intelligent agents evolve across Microsoft and contribute to intelligent, contextual assistance for millions of users.

As a Senior Applied Scientist, you will design and develop LLMs (Large Language Models) and underlying subsystems tailored to various product scenarios and GenAI capabilities across Microsoft 365 experiences. You will partner with research and engineering teams to deliver best-in-class solutions, align with senior stakeholders, build and evaluate models, develop custom LLM architectures and methods for specific product needs, and apply scientific rigor to problems that empower teams across the organization.

The ideal candidate is an AI-forward applied scientist who can ramp up quickly, thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, and deliver measurable impact. If you’re passionate about advancing the science of large language models and translating research into high-quality production systems, this role is a strong fit.

This position is based in Redmond, Washington and requires the employee be in the office a minimum of 3 days per week.

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

Build deep expertise in applied research and modern LLM and ML techniques, and apply it to influence product needs and scientific direction.
Review business and product requirements, incorporate research, and apply scientific rigor to design, develop, and evaluate methods and models that deliver measurable impact.
Collaborate with stakeholders to understand user requirements, gather feedback, and iteratively improve models and solutions.
Design, implement, and deploy AI/ML solutions that meet quality, scalability, and reliability standards, and translate project vision into actionable milestones, estimates, and plans.
Document experiments and share findings to promote innovation, and contribute to ethics and privacy practices related to research and data collection.
Partner closely with cross-functional teams — including engineers, product managers, and data engineers — to deliver high-impact features and platform improvements.
Embody our culture and values.

Qualifications

Required 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.

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:

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