Microsoft

Principal Applied Science Manager - The Media Intelligence Team, IC3 Media Steaming M365 Core

Microsoft • $142K — $274K *
Mountain View, CA 94040In-Person
Media
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctorate in relevant fields with 3-9 years of experience in statistics, predictive analytics, or research.
  • At least 1 year of experience in people management for required qualifications; 5+ years preferred.
  • Demonstrated experience delivering production AI or machine learning systems at scale.
  • Expertise in specific areas such as Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning.
  • Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and managing technical teams.

Responsibilities

  • Define the vision and strategy for Media Intelligence within Microsoft Teams and Copilot.
  • Lead the research and productization of advanced media intelligence technologies.
  • Establish technical standards for model architectures and deployment strategies.
  • Coach and grow a high-performing team of Applied Scientists and Engineers.
  • Partner with stakeholders to identify impactful business opportunities for AI solutions.
  • Translate business needs into scientific investments and actionable outcomes.
  • Create frameworks and methodologies for evaluating scientific investments.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health and wellness benefits.
  • 401(k) plan with company match.
  • Generous paid time off policy.
  • Employee stock purchase plan and performance bonuses.
  • Continuous learning and development opportunities.
Full Job Description
Overview

The Media Intelligence team within IC3 Media Streaming, M365 Core, is building the next generation of AI-powered media experiences that power Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and future agent-based communication and collaboration systems.

We are seeking a Principal Applied Science Manager to lead a team of applied scientists and engineers working at the intersection of computer vision, machine learning, multimodal AI, real-time media systems, and large-scale cloud services. As a leader, you will drive the strategy, execution, and innovation roadmap for AI-powered media intelligence capabilities spanning video enhancement, scene understanding, visual perception, media quality evaluation, intelligent meeting experiences, and emerging multimodal agent scenarios.

This role requires a blend of scientific leadership, technical depth, people management, product partnership, and strategic thinking. The ideal candidate is passionate about translating cutting-edge research into production experiences used by hundreds of millions of customers worldwide.

Responsibilities

Technical and Scientific Leadership
  • Define and drive the long-term vision and strategy for Media Intelligence across Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and future AI-powered communication experiences.
  • Lead research, incubation, and productization of computer vision, multimodal AI, machine learning, and media intelligence technologies.
  • Establish technical direction for model architecture, training methodologies, evaluation frameworks, and deployment strategies.
People Leadership
  • Lead, coach, and grow a high-performing team of Applied Scientists and Engineers.
  • Foster a culture of innovation, scientific rigor, experimentation, customer obsession, and operational excellence.
  • Attract, recruit, develop, and retain world-class talent across machine learning, computer vision, and AI.
  • Create growth opportunities and technical mentorship pathways for team members.
Product and Business Impact
  • Partner closely with engineering, product management, research, and executive stakeholders to identify high-impact opportunities.
  • Translate ambiguous business and customer needs into actionable scientific investments and measurable outcomes.
  • Influence product roadmaps and strategic investments across Teams, Copilot, IC3, and M365 Core.
  • Balance short-term delivery commitments with long-term innovation bets.
Cross-Organization Leadership
  • Build strong partnerships with Microsoft Research, Teams, Copilot, Windows, Azure AI, and other platform teams.
  • Drive alignment across distributed organizations working on AI-powered media experiences.
  • Represent Media Intelligence in leadership reviews, architecture forums, investment discussions, and strategic planning processes.
  • Act as a visible thought leader for applied AI and media intelligence across Microsoft.
Operational Excellence
  • Establish metrics, experimentation frameworks, and evaluation methodologies for scientific investments.
  • Drive responsible AI practices, model quality, privacy, compliance, and production readiness standards.
  • Ensure scalable engineering and model development processes that enable rapid innovation while maintaining service quality and reliability.
  • Lead planning, prioritization, and execution of a balanced portfolio of innovation and product commitments.
  • Creates clarity in ambiguous problem spaces and identifies breakthrough opportunities.


  • Raises the scientific and technical bar for the organization.
  • Builds trust across disciplines and organizations.
  • Balances innovation with execution and customer impact.
  • Develops future leaders and fosters an inclusive, high-performing team culture.
  • Drives strategic impact beyond their immediate team through influence, partnerships, and thought leadership.


Qualifications
Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ 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 4+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
    • OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research).
    • OR equivalent experience.
  • 1+ year(s) of people management 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:

  • Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 9+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
    • OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
    • OR equivalent experience.
  • 5+ years of people management experience.
  • 5+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).
  • 2+ years experience presenting at conferences or other events in the outside research/industry community as an invited speaker.
  • 5+ years experience conducting research as part of a research program (in academic or industry settings).
  • 3+ years experience developing and deploying live production systems, as part of a product team.
  • 3+ years experience developing and deploying products or systems at multiple points in the product cycle from ideation to shipping.
  • Multiple years of experience managing scientists, machine learning engineers, or advanced technical teams.
  • Demonstrated experience delivering production AI, machine learning, or computer vision systems at scale.


Demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following areas:
  • Computer Vision
  • Machine Learning
  • Deep Learning
  • Multimodal AI
  • Video Processing
  • Media Systems
  • Large-scale Inference Platforms
  • Proven track record of translating research innovation into customer-facing products.
  • Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving engineering, product management, and research organizations.
  • Communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
  • Experience building multimodal foundation-model powered systems.
  • Experience with real-time media, video conferencing, streaming, telecommunications, or collaboration technologies.
  • Background in AI-powered perception systems, visual understanding, speech/vision integration, or agentic AI systems.
  • Knowledge of model optimization, edge inference, NPU/GPU acceleration, and large-scale cloud inferencing.
  • Experience developing evaluation frameworks, benchmarking systems, and quality measurement methodologies for AI models.
  • Experience partnering with research organizations and leading incubation-to-product transitions.
  • Demonstrated ability to influence organization-wide technical strategy and investment decisions.


Applied Sciences M5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $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

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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