Principal Researcher - Generative AI - Microsoft Research AI Frontiers

The mission of the AI Frontiers lab is to expand the pareto frontier of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, efficiency, and safety through innovations in foundation models and learning agent platforms. Some of our projects include work on Small Language Models (e.g. Phi, Orca) and agentic AI systems (e.g. AutoGen, MagenticOne, OmniParser).

We are seeking a Principal Researcher - Generative AI to join our team in Redmond, WA or New York City, NY and lead efforts in the advancement of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) technologies. As a Principal Researcher - Generative AI, you will play a crucial role in leading, developing, improving, and exploring the capabilities of Generative AI models. Your work will have a significant impact on the development of cutting-edge technologies, advancing state-of-the-art and providing practical solutions to real-world problems.  

Our ongoing research areas encompass but are not limited to: 

• Reasoning and inference-time compute strategies 
• Action models for automating web and computer tasks 
• Evaluation and Understanding of model and agent capabilities 

The Microsoft Research AI Frontiers lab offers a vibrant environment for cutting-edge, multidisciplinary, research, including access to diverse, real-world problems and data, opportunities for experimentation and real-world impact, an open publication policy, and close links to top academic institutions around the world.

At Microsoft, our mission—to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more—guides how we partner with customers to deliver trusted, impactful solutions. With a growth mindset culture, we innovate responsibly and measure success by shared progress—people, teams, and customers. Join us to do meaningful work that changes the world and helps shape what’s next for everyone.

• As a Principal Researcher in the AI Frontiers lab, you will perform cutting-edge research in collaboration with other researchers, engineers, and product groups.
• As a member of a world-class research organization, you will be a part of research breakthroughs in the field and will be given an opportunity to realize your ideas in products and services used worldwide.

Required Qualifications 

• Doctorate in Computer Science or relevant field AND 3+ years related research experience 
  • OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Research program demonstrated by public artifacts like models, tools, code in AI space or publications at the following conferences: NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, NAACL, CVPR, COLT, ECCV, ICCV, EMNLP. 
• Experience with building and evaluating frontier models.
• Experience publishing academic papers as a lead author or essential contributor in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
• Experience participating in a top conference in relevant research domain. 
• Demonstrable ability to define an ambitious, original research agenda.
• Ability to collaborate, communicate effectively, and technically lead multi-disciplinary team.   
• Keen interest in real-world applications and impact.

#Research 

Research Sciences IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

Research Sciences IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $163,000 - $296,400 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $220,800 - $331,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.