Principal Data Scientist

Are you a real Machine Learning enthusiast? Does the magic of the data world fascinate you? Here at Microsoft Search we have been working on Machine Learning much before it became cool to do so. Here we are solving real world problems to empower millions of people around the globe.

Microsoft Search powers delightful and relevant experiences for enterprise users to cater to their overall information need. As a Principal Data Scientist on this team, you would get a chance to work on the core search stack powering all Copilot Search scenarios.

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.

• Advance the science: Design and run experiments, define and validate metrics, and develop ML pipelines and models in areas like encoder-decoder models, cross-encoder models. You will also experiment with SLMs + model distillation to bring the power of Language models optimized for focused ranking tasks within low latency constraints. This is a strategic initiative and you are expected to drive this by working with different leaders across the org to drive clarity and alignment. You will be working with large scale data and derive insights out of it while championing Privacy and Compliance.
• Drive product innovation: Partner with Engineering, PM, and Design to translate product vision and industry trends into scalable, reliable, and agile architecture. You are expected to drive long term road-maps and provide clarity and recommendations for critical investment areas for the org.
• Collaborate across Microsoft: Work closely with Microsoft Research, Azure, AI platform teams, and product groups to bring cutting-edge AI into real-world applications. As a principal you are expected to work and influence leaders in the org as well as potentially cross-org.
• Champion customer impact: Engage with customers and internal teams to deeply understand pain points and drive improvements that matter.
• Lead and mentor: As a Principal Scientist you are expected role model deep technical expertise, generate energy towards goals, drive clarity in ambiguous situations and champion cross group/org collaboration. You would also mentor junior scientists and engineers and scale your learnings across the broader product group.
• Define success: You will also help define best practices in Model evaluation and work with leaders in the org to establish and improve the process.
• Stay ahead: Keep up with the latest research and foster a thriving applied science culture. Publishing is encouraged, though not required.

• Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
  • OR Master's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 7+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years data science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of Python coding skill.

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.

• Experience in building large scale embedding based models and their applications.