Principal Applied Scientist | Microsoft Careers

Microsoft

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: WACA
Salary: $139,900–$274,800 / yr
Posted: 45 days ago
Closes: Oct 26, 2026
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

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Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $193k

This role $207k

$102k most similar roles pay here $293k

This role pays more than 64% of similar roles. Most pay $177,250–$208,800 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $207k versus about $193k for comparable roles.

Based on 239 similar postings.

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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 1559 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $119,800–$234,700 across 1390 roles with salary data.

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TL;DR · Principal Applied Scientist | Microsoft Careers

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As a Principal Applied Scientist at Microsoft Copilot, you will lead the development of machine learning and generative AI systems that enhance product discovery, ranking, recommendation, and personalization in conversational shopping experiences. Your day-to-day responsibilities include designing and building large-scale models using commerce and behavioral data, developing LLM-based systems for conversational interactions, addressing quality and trust issues, and defining evaluation frameworks. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure low-latency user experiences while providing technical leadership through design reviews and mentoring. The role requires expertise in Python or R for data analysis, proficiency in big data tools like Apache Spark, advanced analytics techniques such as time-series analysis, and practical experience with LLMs and prompt engineering. This position is crucial for creating trustworthy and compliant systems that solve real-world challenges in conversational commerce at scale.

Skills

Python R SQL Apache Spark Azure Databricks ARIMA isolation forests prompt engineering GPT-like models Responsible AI

What you'll do

Design and build machine learning models for product discovery, ranking, and personalization using large-scale commerce data.
Develop conversational shopping systems with LLMs, focusing on prompt design and retrieval-augmented generation techniques.
Address quality challenges in AI systems to ensure reliability and trustworthiness in recommendation engines.
Define evaluation frameworks and conduct experiments for conversational and proactive shopping scenarios.
Provide technical leadership by mentoring team members and setting quality standards for applied science projects.
Contribute to model governance and Responsible AI practices to maintain trustworthy and compliant systems.

What we're looking for

Extensive hands-on experience developing machine learning models for real-world applications.
Proficiency in Python or R for data analysis and modeling, with knowledge of SQL.
Experience with large-scale data processing tools like Apache Spark or Azure Databricks.
Expertise in time-series analysis and anomaly detection techniques for business insights.
Practical experience with prompt engineering and fine-tuning GPT-like models.
Strong understanding of Responsible AI practices and privacy compliance.