Overview

The Data, Knowledge, and Intelligence (DKI) Group, formerly part of MSRA and now a core pillar of STCA since February 2023, is at the forefront of Microsoft’s transformation into an agentic, AI-first company. DKI’s mission is to empower people and organizations to turn data into knowledge, knowledge into intelligence, and intelligence into action — through the lens of multimodal large language models (LLMs) and autonomous agents. DKI’s foundation is built on deep expertise in AI/ML, software engineering, human-computer interaction, and data analytics.

As a Principal Researcher at DKI, this opportunity will allow you to conduct frontier research in these domains and land cutting-edge technology in Microsoft products including M365 Copilot and underlying infrastructure and system. Working at DKI will help accelerate your career growth towards building technical leadership in academia and making real-world impact in industry.

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

You will identify gaps and determine which state-of-the-art insights to incorporate into the research pipeline. You’ll support the development and implementation of new technologies and apply deep subject matter knowledge to support planning for research projects.
You will lead a collaborative research effort to advance a long-term research agenda through multiple projects yielding results in one or more subareas or a broad area of research. You will contribute to ethics and privacy policies and help develop technologies that uphold company values.
You will expand relationships with product or business group leaders inside or outside Microsoft and contribute to product or business group decisions at a strategic level. You’ll create a measurable impact on business and act as a major contributor to influential publications.
You will proactively mentor and coach junior team members and share expertise to build team capabilities. You’ll represent Microsoft externally to grow the network and help develop a capability strategy that serves long-term research objectives.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

Doctorate in relevant field AND 3+ years related research experience
- OR equivalent experience.
Passion to conduct research and land technology into real-world applications.
Solid influencing and communication skills to engage with various stakeholders externally and internally.
High personal standard to deliver thoughtful and quality work.

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.

Preferred Qualifications:

Doctorate in relevant field AND 5+ years related research experience)
- OR equivalent experience.
Experience publishing academic papers as a lead author or essential contributor.
Experience participating in a top conference in relevant research domain.

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.