Microsoft

Principal Research Engineer

Microsoft • $142K — $274K *
Redmond, WA 98052In-Person
Information Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
Be an Early Applicant
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Applied Mathematics, or related field AND 6+ years of relevant technical engineering experience.
  • OR equivalent experience in a related technical field.
  • Preferred: Master's Degree or Ph.D. in relevant field with 8+ years of experience.
  • Experience in training language or foundation models, including pretraining and fine-tuning.
  • Proficiency in coding languages such as Python, C, C++, C#, or Java.
  • Experience with modern machine learning frameworks like PyTorch or JAX.
  • Demonstrated ability to design model evaluations or ablation studies.

Responsibilities

  • Lead model training programs, including pretraining and fine-tuning.
  • Enhance model quality through architecture, training data, and optimization adjustments.
  • Design and perform controlled experiments and evaluation methods for model performance.
  • Diagnose and solve various issues related to training and model performance.
  • Make technical decisions and develop reusable best practices for experiments and model releases.
  • Collaborate with specialists to optimize performance across GPU clusters.
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship to cross-functional teams.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work on cutting-edge foundation models and machine learning research.
  • Collaborative work environment with researchers and engineers.
  • Engagement in large-scale experimentation and exploration of innovative solutions.
  • Chance to contribute to significant model-training efforts and publications.
  • Involvement in shaping best practices and influencing technical direction.
Full Job Description
Overview

Microsoft Research Americas is seeking a Principal Research Engineer to help advance how foundation models are trained, adapted, evaluated, and improved. You will work with researchers and engineers to turn promising model ideas into reproducible experiments and measurable improvements that can support multiple research initiatives.

In this role, you will lead hands-on work across model pretraining, continued pretraining, fine-tuning, and post-training. You will deepen your experience in foundation model development, model evaluation, and large-scale experimentation while partnering with machine learning systems and infrastructure specialists to scale successful approaches across GPU clusters. This role is based in Redmond, Washington, with an expectation of three days per week in the office.

Responsibilities
  • Lead model-training programs spanning pretraining from scratch when appropriate, continued pretraining of existing base models, supervised fine-tuning, and post-training.
  • Improve model quality through changes to model architecture, training data, learning objectives, optimizers, hyperparameters, and end-to-end training recipes.
  • Design and implement controlled experiments, ablation studies, and evaluation methods for accuracy, reasoning, robustness, generalization, safety, and domain performance.
  • Diagnose and resolve training instability, convergence failures, numerical issues, data-quality defects, overfitting, catastrophic forgetting, and capability regressions.
  • Own technical and design decisions and develop reusable training, evaluation, experimentation, and model-release practices that support multiple research initiatives.
  • Partner with machine learning systems and infrastructure specialists to scale successful approaches across GPU clusters, improve training efficiency, and ensure reliable and reproducible execution.
  • Provide technical direction across research and engineering teams, mentor engineers, communicate trade-offs, and translate ambiguous goals into measurable milestones.


Qualifications

Required Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Applied Mathematics or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python, C, C++, C#, or Java
    • OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Master's Degree or Doctorate in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Applied Mathematics, or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python, C, C++, C#, or Java
    • OR Bachelor's Degree in a related technical field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python, C, C++, C#, or Java
    • OR equivalent experience.
  • Experience training language or foundation models, including developing models through pretraining or continuing the training of existing base models.
  • Experience improving model quality through changes to training data, model architecture, learning objectives, optimization methods, hyperparameters, or post-training techniques.
  • Experience developing and debugging machine learning systems using Python and a modern machine learning framework such as PyTorch or JAX.
  • Experience designing model evaluations or ablation studies used to assess training changes and guide technical decisions.
  • Experience with one or more model-adaptation methods, such as continued pretraining, instruction tuning, parameter-efficient fine-tuning, preference optimization, reinforcement-learning-based post-training, or model distillation.
  • Experience diagnosing training instability, convergence, numerical, data-quality, overfitting, forgetting, or model-regression issues.
  • Experience with distributed model training, mixed precision, checkpointing, experiment tracking, GPU performance, or multi-node training.
  • Experience improving training data through filtering, deduplication, mixture design, sampling, tokenization, synthetic data, provenance, or contamination controls.
  • Experience contributing to significant model-training efforts, research publications, patents, open-source machine learning projects, or research-to-product transfers.
  • Experience providing technical direction across ambiguous, cross-functional work, including mentoring engineers and driving execution across team boundaries.
  • Experience applying responsible model-development practices involving privacy, safety evaluation, data governance, documentation, or reproducibility.


#Research #MSRR

Software Engineering IC5 - 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.

Microsoft Careers

Join Microsoft today and be part of a company that values innovation, leadership, and diversity in its workforce. As a global leader in technology and digital transformation, Microsoft offers unparalleled job opportunities that propel your career to new heights.

Explore Career Opportunities at Microsoft

Whether you're a seasoned professional looking for your next challenge or a recent graduate eager to start your career, Microsoft has a position that suits your skills and ambitions. We are committed to fostering a culture of growth and learning, where every team member is supported in expanding their horizons.

Internship Programs

Kickstart your career with a Microsoft internship. Our internships provide invaluable workplace experience and networking opportunities in a supportive and dynamic environment. You'll work on real projects, learn from industry leaders, and gain the skills necessary for a successful career in technology.

Employment Benefits

Choosing a career at Microsoft means more than just a job. Our employees enjoy a range of benefits designed to empower them both professionally and personally. These include comprehensive health benefits, flexible working conditions, and opportunities for career advancement through professional development and diversity training.

Inclusive Culture and Diversity

At Microsoft, we believe that innovation comes from diversity of thought and inclusion. We are committed to a workplace where everyone feels valued and inspired. Our leadership is dedicated to fostering an environment where diverse perspectives lead to breakthrough innovations and a competitive edge.

Grow with Us

Career growth at Microsoft is about more than climbing the corporate ladder; it's about continuous learning, expanding your skills, and improving your capabilities. With access to various leadership and training programs, you can evolve as a professional and make a significant impact within the company and on the global stage.

Hiring Process

Our hiring process is designed to identify true potential. Starting with a review of your resume, followed by interviews that assess your problem-solving abilities and cultural fit, we ensure that all candidates have a fair chance to demonstrate their strengths and potential to contribute to our team.

Networking and Professional Development

Microsoft is a place where you can build a professional network that spans the globe. Our employees benefit from connections with top-tier professionals and industry leaders, which opens doors to innovative projects and collaborative opportunities that are second to none.

Join Our Team

If you're ready to take on exciting challenges and make a difference in the world of technology, explore the job opportunities at Microsoft. Search for open positions that match your skills and interests, and prepare to embark on a rewarding career path filled with innovation and opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Stay Connected

Keep up to date with the latest at Microsoft Careers by subscribing to our job alert emails. Get tailored content that aligns with your career preferences and discover the exciting and rewarding opportunities that await at Microsoft.

SEARCH MICROSOFT JOBS

At Microsoft, your future is limitless. Join us in our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Your journey with Microsoft starts here.
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

Similar Jobs

Ad banner background

Get Ready For Your
Next Interview

More Jobs at Microsoft

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Principal Research Engineer jobs:

NationwideRedmond, WA