Principal Applied Scientist

The Education (EDU) team at Microsoft is transforming the way we learn and teach by developing innovative software solutions which are reshaping classrooms and empowering educators and students alike. EDU is hiring a Principal Applied Scientist to build applications and services to revolutionize the teaching and learning experience worldwide in the dynamic and rapidly evolving education technology industry.

As a Principal Applied Scientist, with a strong blend of software development skills and hands-on experience, you will help define and create innovative solutions using Multimodal Machine Learning models enabling the next generation of education experiences across devices and platforms. In this role, you will have the opportunity to develop AI and ML-powered platform components and workflows accessible across Microsoft 365 and Windows. You will work closely with cross functional teams to adopt requirements and define the direction to adopt these components into systems.

The EDU team leverages the diverse backgrounds and experiences of engineers, scientists, and program managers to help realize its mission to shape the future of education by making it more accessible, engaging and effective for everyone. The team believes great products are built by inclusive teams of customer-obsessed individuals who trust each other and work together closely.

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

• Adopt, contribute to, and improve the team’s existing technical stack and infrastructure to build differentiated features in the Education space. 
• Stay up to date with AI technology, advise on how we can adapt and embrace new technologies methodologies and ideas.  
• Provide hands-on technical work: design, analytics/modeling and fine tuning, dataset development, code reviews, development, quality assurance.   
• Build relationships with partners within Microsoft (applied) Research Teams to bring innovation to new and existing products.  
• Foster a culture of inclusivity and disciplined data and software engineering practices to deliver business value, guided by data. 
• Create and sustain an effective team culture is extremely important to us. We value and promote a high trust environment where we work closely and effectively with others. 

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) with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • 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) with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • 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) with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 2+ years experience working with AI/ML technologies.
• Experience working with LLMs and other modern AI methods.
• Experience shipping products at scale.

Other Requirements
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements that 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

• 9+ years of AI/ML experience in the industry (5+ years with PhD)  
• Technical skills in AI and machine learning.  
• Track record of shipping innovative AI-based products at scale.  <