The Principal Applied Scientist role on the Online Forensics team at Microsoft focuses on protecting the monetization network by anticipating and mitigating fraud tactics. This position involves assessing threats in monetization and advertising flows, tracking adversary behavior, and developing simulations to expose vulnerabilities. The role requires leading investigations during material incidents and converting findings into actionable insights for defense teams. The team operates within the Microsoft AI Experiences organization, emphasizing a culture of inclusion and collaboration.

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience.
• Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years related experience.
• Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements.

• Identify emerging fraud tactics, adversary infrastructure, and evasion patterns through various analytical methods.
• Assess high-risk assumptions and attack paths by forming explicit threat hypotheses and validating risk.
• Design safe adversarial simulations that expose blind spots and convert results into actionable test harnesses.
• Establish authoritative ground truth by correlating evidence across multiple data sources and reconstructing attack chains.
• Develop shared investigation infrastructure and convert findings into actionable insights.
• Lead end-to-end reconstruction during material incidents and document actionable findings for remediation.

• 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.