The Principal Applied Scientist role focuses on advancing large language models (LLMs) within the Copilot Tuning team at Microsoft. This small, agile team aims to enhance model development and create task-specific solutions using tenant data. Candidates should possess strong research skills and a passion for pushing technological boundaries in language model training and data pipelines. The position is based in Redmond, Washington, requiring in-office presence at least three days a week.

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years related experience.
• Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience.
• Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 5+ years related experience.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements.

• Design and build platforms and pipelines to enable large language models post-training.
• Design experiments to show the effectiveness of LLM-based solutions and design platforms to deliver effectiveness.
• Work with customers to learn their needs and deliver required solutions in the platform.
• Design and implement inference solutions that incorporate post-trained models following product specifications.
• Document experiments and communicate results across the team.
• Mentor early in career team members.

• Employees at Microsoft are often offered comprehensive, “world-class” benefits—including health and mental-wellness programs, competitive pay with bonuses and stock awards, and retirement/savings options. Time-off and flexibility are common, with generous vacation and holidays, parental and caregiver leave, and flexible work schedules, alongside learning support, employee resource groups, product discounts, and matching-gifts/volunteering programs. Specific benefits can vary by region.