Microsoft
Principal Applied Scientist
$143K–$304K
Redmond, WA · On-site · Principal · Full-time · Posted Oct 26, 2026
- Experience
- Required: 6+ years with a bachelor’s degree, 4+ with a master’s, or 3+ with a doctorate; equivalent experience accepted. Preferred: 9+ years with a master’s or 6+ with a doctorate; also lists experience thresholds of 5+ years in publications, 2+ years as an invited speaker, 5+ years conducting research, and 3+ years developing and deploying production systems/products.
- Education
- Bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent experience.
About the job
Leads scientific evaluation and data-driven improvement of AI systems powering Microsoft 365 Copilot, from experimentation and measurement through production deployment.
What you'll do
- Develop metrics and evaluation methods, and design experiments to measure AI quality and product improvements.
- Build data pipelines and analytical tools; analyze large datasets to identify insights and diagnose quality regressions.
- Set technical direction with partner teams, promote responsible AI measurement practices, mentor scientists, and communicate findings.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in a listed or related field plus 6+ years of related experience, or master’s degree plus 4+ years, or doctorate plus 3+ years, or equivalent experience.
- Related experience in areas such as statistics, predictive analytics, or research.
Nice to have
- Master’s degree plus 9+ years of related experience, or doctorate plus 6+ years, or equivalent experience.
- Experience in publications, invited speaking, research programs, and production product development, including the experience durations stated in the posting.
Pay
USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year (base salary); USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year (base salary)
Tools
large language models (LLMs), information retrieval, machine learning, AI evaluation, data pipelines, dashboards, data mining
AI focus
Develops evaluation methodologies and experiments to measure, monitor, and improve AI systems, including Microsoft 365 Copilot; includes responsible AI measurement.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative