Principal Applied Scientist
Microsoft · Redmond, WA · Applied Sciences
About this role
Microsoft is hiring a principal-level Applied Scientist in the machine learning function based in Redmond, WA. The posting calls out experience with Data Structures, Machine Learning, LLMs, Feature Engineering. Compensation is listed at $163,000–$296,400 per year.
- Role
- Applied Scientist
- Function
- machine learning
- Level
- principal
- Track
- Tech leadership
- Employment
- Full-time
- Location
- Redmond, WA
- Department
- Applied Sciences
- Posted
- May 8, 2026
More roles at Microsoft
Job description
from Microsoft careersCopilot Discover helps hundreds of millions of people be informed, entertained, and inspired by surfacing highly relevant, trustworthy, and delightful content across Microsoft surfaces. We’re building the next generation of AI‑powered content recommendation systems—spanning text, images, audio, and video—to curate the right content at the right moment for each user while upholding safety and integrity.
As a Principal Applied Scientist, you’ll lead the science behind Discover’s ranking, user understanding, and content understanding stack, combining LLMs, multimodal models, and large‑scale recommender systems to drive measurable gains in engagement, satisfaction, and trust. You will set technical direction, mentor a high‑caliber science cohort, and partner closely with engineering, PM, UXR, and policy to ship end‑to‑end outcomes. You will contribute to the development of the next generation of MSN that is adopting the latest generative AI techniques.
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.