Principal Research Software Engineer, Gaming AI

Do you want to help shape and define the future of gaming? Does being at the forefront of innovation excite you? 

At Xbox, we are exploring new emerging technology trends to craft the next era of gaming. We are venturing beyond the horizon and charting a course forward with players and creators at the center. 

Our goal is to define the future of Xbox by advancing our mission of bringing joy and community to every player on the planet. If you value dynamic and agile teams that are proactively advocating for a diverse workforce, we have a great role for you. 
 
The Xbox Gaming AI team is seeking an experienced Principal Research Software Engineer, Gaming AI with proficient coding and research skills to join our dynamic team. Our mission is to explore and create innovative new AI/ML based features, tools and services- with a focus on diffusion models, generative AI and large language models. 

This role requires a combination of technical excellence with depth of expertise in machine learning, generative AI and working hands-on with new developments neural network architectures.  Any interest in or experience as a game developer would be a big plus.  The candidate is highly collaborative and has a solid ability to bring ideas to life, from minimal viable prototyping to production engineering, working with other software engineers, data scientists, applied scientists, game developers, product managers, and world-class machine learning researchers. The candidate will have robust experience in taking prototypes to production ready features or services.   

As with any role focused on incubation and innovation, sound judgement and ability to balance trade-offs in opportunity cost is vital. 
 

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

• Develop and implement state-of-the-art techniques for AI/ML powered tools and technologies for gaming. 
• Provide advice and mentorship to other team members.
• Work across different incubation projects that may be utilizing different AI/ML approaches and frameworks. Participate in brainstorming, architecture design, experimenting with different ML approaches.
• Develop an understanding of a breadth of machine learning approaches, including latest state of the art from academic publications, to develop optimal player experiences agnostic of technical approach.
• Focused on identifying and addressing real user and business needs, rather than creating solutions that are looking for a problem.
• Being open and flexible on the set of possible solutions, able to balance user desirability, technical feasibility and business viability.
• Validate and bring to life ideas through technical prototypes, working with software engineers, applied scientists and researchers.
• Collaborate and coordinate across multiple teams and stakeholders and solve complex problems that allow for innovative features across all our platforms. 
• Commitment to nurturing a diverse and inclusive workplace and team culture, where every voice is heard and valued. 

Embody our