Principal Applied Scientist

Microsoft

Hybrid

Quick summary

Work type
Hybrid
Location
Salary
$142,800–$274,800 / yr
Posted
36 days ago
Closes
Nov 22, 2026

Market check

Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $199k
This role $209k
$127k most similar roles pay here $291k

This role pays more than 57% of similar roles. Most pay $162,000–$236,900 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $209k versus about $199k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology leader producing software, hardware, and cloud services including Windows, Office 365, Azure cloud platform, Xbox gaming, and Surface devices. Industry: Software & Cloud Computing

Microsoft currently has 399 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $119,800–$234,700 across 379 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Applied Scientist

The Core Recommendation Ranking team at Microsoft AI Copilot Discover Engineering Org seeks a Principal Applied Scientist Architect to lead the integration of GenAI and agentic systems into their recommendation stack, focusing on content ranking and reranking for millions of users. This senior technical leader will design and implement advanced ML/DL models using deep learning and large language models, architect scalable systems for generative recommendations, and establish best practices for model governance and reliability. The role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive innovation in recommendation technologies and mentor junior scientists and engineers. Ideal candidates have extensive experience in applied science, recommendation systems, and LLMs, proficiency in PyTorch or TensorFlow, and a track record of delivering large-scale ML systems. This position is at the forefront of AI-driven personalization across Microsoft’s diverse consumer engagement platforms.

What you'll do

  • Design and implement ranking models using deep learning and large language models for content recommendation.
  • Architect next-generation ranking systems for large-scale scenarios, including generative recommendations and agentic feeds.
  • Lead the design of efficient ML/DL pipelines with feature engineering, model training, evaluation, and online inference.
  • Drive innovation in model architectures like LLM-enhanced ranking and reinforcement learning.
  • Mentor junior team members to foster a culture of technical excellence and knowledge sharing.

What we're looking for

  • 8+ years of experience in applied science or deep learning with a track record of delivering production ML systems at scale.
  • Expertise in recommendation systems, ranking models, search relevance, and personalization techniques.
  • Proficiency in modern ML frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow, and cloud-scale infrastructure.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence technical direction across teams.
  • Solid architectural skills for designing large-scale ML systems and distributed pipelines.
  • Experience with LLM-based ranking, agentic AI, or generative AI applied to recommendation systems.

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