Principal Applied Science Manager

Github Copilot, part of CoreAI, is working on the future of AI for Developers! We are a diverse, entrepreneurial and multi-disciplinary group of scientists, researchers and engineers with passion for using AI to improve the productivity of millions of developers around the world. We have released AI for code advancements in Github Copilot, VS Code, Visual Studio and other Microsoft Copilots.

We are looking for a Principal Applied Research Manager,  an inspiring leader to manage a team of researchers and applied scientists, and deliver research projects, taking these from research into products including VS Code, Visual Studio, GitHub Copilot and Github Copilot Coding Agent. In this role, you will work closely with engineering and product leaders in our team and across the Developer group and Github. You will lead one of our biggest AI bets on a new initiative where your team will leverage various techniques from agentic approaches, model fine-tuning and other in-context learning techniques such as RAG. You will have an opportunity to hire and build your team from scratch and grow an entirely new initiative by both advancing research and applying this into an exciting new product category.

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

• Initiate ground-breaking research in AI for Software Engineering and inspire researchers and applied scientists to advance state-of-the-art

• Collaborate across disciplines in Developer Division and Github to deliver meaningful AI features that significantly improve developer productivity

• Attract and retain top scientists building a diverse team with an inclusive culture where people are inspired to tackle bold and ambitious AI projects

• Collaborate with Microsoft Research and world-renowned experts in programming tools and developer tools to integrate AI across software development stack for Copilot

• Embody our culture and values    

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications:  

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience in AI Research
  • OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years related experience in AI Research
  • OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience in AI Research.
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 1+ year(s) of people management experience.
• Experience as a lead driving large AI research across multiple researchers or applied scientists.
• Experience with LLMs in natural language.

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.