Principal Researcher – AI for Code

Microsoft; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Microsoft is seeking a Principal Researcher for AI for Code in Cambridge to drive impactful research focused on empowering users in data-centric tasks with AI. This role involves leading projects, mentoring teams, and collaborating with various Microsoft branches, particularly Excel, to enhance data interactions for millions of users.

Benefits

Healthcare

Parental leave

Time off

Networking opportunities

Qualifications

• Proven project management and research leadership experience.
• High-impact publications in top-tier venues.
• Mentoring experience in research environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead research empowering end-users with data.
• Collaborate across teams to maximize research impact.
• Publish and present research findings.

Skills

Project leadership

Effective communication

Creativity

Collaboration

Education

PhD in Computer Science or relevant field

Job description

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Principal Researcher – AI for Code, Cambridge

Client: Microsoft

Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom

Job Category: Other

EU work permit required: Yes

Job Reference: d35ffa56066b

Job Views: 4

Posted: 02.06.2025

Expiry Date: 17.07.2025

Job Description:

Overview

We are seeking a Principal Researcher with a background in NLP. The successful candidate will have a passion for empowering spreadsheet users in the context of interactions with LLMs. They will join a multidisciplinary research project that focuses on the future of work with data. The project team works closely with others across Microsoft, including MSR Redmond, Excel, and others. Calc Intelligence’s impact on many millions of customers features in various Microsoft products.

This is an exceptional opportunity for an experienced researcher and leader in their field to drive ambitious research with an established research group, in collaboration with teams across Microsoft and especially with Excel. The successful candidate will also share research insights with, and provide strategic guidance to, product teams.

Key research challenges include: How can we help users critically think about their data-driven decisions by leveraging AI? How can we generate safe and interpretable code? How can we extract useful tables from long documents? How can we evaluate code-generating systems?

We are looking for candidates who have:

• A drive for real-world impact, demonstrated by a passion to build and release prototypes;
• Proven project and team leadership skills;
• Influential projects and publications in top-tier venues (e.g., AAAI, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, EMNLP, NAACL, ACL);
• Interdisciplinary experience in applied machine learning, NLP, and human-computer interaction;
• A passion for research in spreadsheets or data-centric tasks;
• Creativity and ability to generate novel ideas and solutions;
• Effective communication and collaboration skills.

Qualifications

Required:

• PhD in Computer Science or relevant field, or equivalent experience, with related research;
• Research leadership and project management experience;
• High-impact publications or equivalent impact;
• Mentoring experience;
• Effective communication skills.

Preferred:

• Ability to define ambitious, original research agendas;
• Experience in multidisciplinary teams;
• Interest in real-world applications;
• Experience with LLMs in data-centric tasks;
• Experience presenting to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead collaborative research on empowering end-users with data;
• Identify gaps and incorporate cutting-edge tools and methods;
• Collaborate across teams to maximize impact;
• Publish and present research findings;
• Mentor researchers and engineers.

Benefits/perks may vary depending on employment details and location, including healthcare, resources, discounts, savings, parental leave, time off, giving programs, and networking opportunities.