Microsoft

Applied Scientist II

Microsoft • $102K — $202K *
Redmond, WA 98052In-Person
Consumer Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant field plus 2+ years of experience, or a Master's degree with 1+ year of experience, or a Doctorate in a related field.
  • 1+ year experience in creating publications like patents or peer-reviewed papers.
  • Experience with machine learning, NLP, or information retrieval techniques in search or recommendation contexts.
  • Proficiency in data analysis for diagnosing model behaviors and enhancing product quality.
  • Applied ML engineering experience using Python and frameworks like PyTorch.

Responsibilities

  • Research tools and methods to enhance M365 Copilot's Chat and Search functionalities.
  • Gain in-depth knowledge of M365 Copilot Search and stay updated with ML advancements.
  • Utilize data to spot opportunities for state-of-the-art algorithm application to boost search quality.
  • Develop expertise in search relevance and NLP to create or adapt effective solutions.
  • Foster collaborations with product teams to leverage technology for impactful business results.

Benefits

  • Access to a comprehensive benefits package including health, wellness, and retirement planning resources.
  • Opportunities for professional development and continued education.
  • Engagement with a highly collaborative and innovative work environment.
  • Flexibility with remote work up to 2 days per week.
Full Job Description
Overview

As an Applied Scientist II on the Microsoft Search Relevance team, you will work alongside other scientists to solve challenging problems that delight Copilot Search and Chat users. Examples include adapting state-of-the-art vector search algorithms to the enterprise domain, and applying advanced ML to improve the retrieval quality of business-critical information by jointly optimizing query understanding and the retrieval algorithm. You will also partner closely with our platform team to accelerate the evaluation of retrieval algorithms at scale.

This position is based in Redmond, Washington and requires the employee be in the office a minimum of 3 days per week.

Responsibilities

  • Research and evaluate tools, technologies, and methods from the community that can improve the quality, performance, or efficiency of M365 Copilot Chat and Search, and apply them to deliver business impact.
  • Build deep knowledge of the M365 Copilot Search service while staying current with industry trends and advances in applied ML (machine learning). Consult with engineers and product teams to apply advanced concepts to search quality improvements.
  • Use data to identify opportunities to apply state-of-the-art algorithms that improve M365 Copilot search quality. Apply statistical analysis to evaluate the behavior of deployed models, validate assumptions about evaluation results, and communicate insights to the team.
  • Develop expertise in search relevance, NLP (natural language processing), and data-driven analysis, along with the relevant research literature and techniques. Use this understanding to identify, adapt, or create research-backed solutions-novel, data-driven, scalable, and extensible-that improve M365 Copilot Chat and Search quality.
  • Build collaborative relationships with product and business groups across Microsoft, contributing expertise and technology that create business impact. This may include authoring white papers, developing and maintaining internal tools and services, and publishing research.


Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 2+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
    • OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 1+ year(s) related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
    • OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field
    • OR equivalent experience.


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:
  • Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 5+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
    • OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
    • OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 1+ year(s) related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
    • OR equivalent experience.
  • 1+ year(s) experience creating publications (e.g., patents, peer-reviewed academic papers).
  • Experience applying machine learning, NLP, or information retrieval techniques to search or recommendation problems.
  • Experience using data analysis and offline/online evaluation to diagnose model behavior and improve product quality.
  • Applied ML engineering experience using Python and modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch.
  • Hands-on experience with dense/vector retrieval and text embeddings, including bi-encoders, approximate nearest-neighbor search, contrastive training, or hard-negative training.
  • Familiarity with information retrieval fundamentals and retrieval evaluation, including metrics such as recall[redacted] and nDCG, offline evaluation pipelines, and interpretation of A/B test results.
  • Experience fine-tuning or adapting transformer or large language models for a specific domain, including domain adaptation, distillation, parameter-efficient fine-tuning, and curation of clean in-domain training data.
  • Solid applied ML engineering skills in Python and PyTorch, with experience running large-scale training and evaluation jobs on cloud or GPU clusters.


Applied Sciences IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $102,100 - $202,200 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 $133,800 - $219,200 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.

About Microsoft

Microsoft is an American multinational corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a range of software products and services. Microsoft’s devices and consumer (D&C) licensing segment licenses the Windows operating system and related software, Microsoft Office for consumers, and the Windows Phone operating system. The company’s computing and gaming hardware segment provides Xbox gaming and entertainment consoles and accessories, second-party and third-party video games, and Xbox Live subscriptions; surface devices and accessories; and Microsoft PC accessories. Its phone hardware segment offers Lumia smartphones and other non-Lumia phones. Its D&C segment provides Windows Store, Xbox Live transactions, and Windows phone store; search advertising; display advertising; Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal; first-party video games; and other consumer products and services as well as operating retail stores. Microsoft’s commercial licensing segments license server products, including Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, System Center, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Windows Embedded; Windows operating system; Microsoft Office for business, including Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and related CALs; Microsoft Dynamics business solutions; and Skype. Its commercial segment offers enterprise services, including premier support services and Microsoft consulting services; commercial cloud comprising Office 365 Commercial, other Microsoft Office online offerings, Dynamics CRM Online, and Microsoft Azure; and other commercial products and online services. The company markets and distributes its products through original equipment manufacturers, distributors, and resellers, as well as online.

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Learn more about Microsoft
Size
181,000 employees
Market Cap
$1,762.4 billion
Industry
Enterprise Technology
Net Income
$51.3 billion
Founded
1975
5 Year Trend
+15.5%
Revenue
$153.2 billion
NASDAQ
MSFT
* Ladders Estimates

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