Senior Researcher

Overview The mission of the Copilot Tuning Research team is to ensure that AI can be easily adapted and tuned to enable critical, high-value applications, including entirely new productivity tools. Our research leverages novel training and post-training algorithms, AI architecture, and agentic innovations to adapt M365 Copilot using customer-specific data and domain expert feedback to enable end-to-end fine-tuning and adaptation within the platform. We are seeking a Senior Researcher with stellar research and system building skills and the desire to pursue the cutting edge in model development that pushes technological boundaries of AI for productivity applications across industries and domains. We are looking for candidates with interest and experience in multimodal AI and generative AI training and post-training, and applications of multimodal generative AI. 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 Train and deploy multimodal and AI models adapted to specific industry needs. Create and adapt novel training and fine-tuning algorithms for tasks such as vision, computer use agents, multimodal generation. Identifies, researches, and implements machine learning solutions given product requirements. Brings a research project to successful completion yielding new algorithms, prototypes, theories, tools, methods, analyses, insights, or collections of data which solve one or more open research problems. Document and share best practices across the organization. Supports mentorship by assisting with onboarding of research interns or other early in profession team members. Qualifications Required Qualifications: Doctorate in relevant field OR equivalent experience. Experience training/fine tuning AI/ML models, multimodal models, and/or LLMs. Experience building AI pipelines or applications. Experience with Python and/or PyTorch. 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 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.