Principal Data Scientist

Microsoft; City Of London; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Microsoft is seeking an expert in AI for a pivotal role to enhance Microsoft 365 Copilot. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, combined with strong leadership skills. This role involves driving innovative projects and mentoring talent, contributing directly to the future of AI at Microsoft.

Qualifications

• Expertise in deploying machine learning applications at scale.
• Excellent problem-solving and data analysis skills.
• Strong people leadership and collaborative skills.

Responsibilities

• Drive innovation and technical depth in Microsoft 365 Copilot.
• Advancing deep reasoning using LLM fine-tuning.
• Mentor and develop talent within the team.

Skills

Natural Language Processing

Machine Learning

Information Retrieval

Recommendation Systems

Data Analysis

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science or related areas

Master’s degree with industry experience

Job description

Responsibilities (Text Only)

You’ll work on high-impact, technically ambitious projects that directly shape the future of Microsoft 365 Copilot.Examples include: - Advancing deep reasoning in Microsoft 365 Copilot by applying next-generation LLM fine-tuning and reinforcement learning techniques. - Improving Copilot Chat and Researcher response quality through state-of-the-art grounding data selection strategies. - Enhancing Copilot Search by developing novel content representation models. - Building the next wave of recommendation and personalization capabilities across M365 Copilot experiences. - In addition to driving innovation, you’ll help grow the team’s technical depth by mentoring and developing talent.

Qualifications (Text Only)

Required Qualifications: - A Ph.D. in Computer Science, Math, Physics, Statistics, OR related areas is highly preferred. Candidates with master’s degree with proven industry experience or a strong publication record in the areas of Information Retrieval, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Deep Learning are considered as well. - Extensive hands-on experience building and deploying products using Machine Learning. Specifically, we are looking for expertise in Natural Language Processing, Large Language Models, Information Retrieval, and Recommendation Systems with a good understanding of techniques like Differential Privacy, Responsible AI and related areas. - High proficiency in deploying machine learning applications at scale in real production environments and proven track record of successfully shipping applied research to production is a must - Excellent problem solving and data analysis skills and a good grasp of applied statistics. Particularly, expertise in developing or applying predictive analytics, statistical modelling, data mining, or machine learning algorithms, especially at scale - Strong people leadership skills to influence others, with the ability to tech-lead, understand team dynamics, retain, attract, and develop team members. - Grounded in growth mindset, and advocate for diversity and inclusion. - Customer obsession and passionate about product impact - Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to simplify and explain complex ideas. - Effective collaboration skills while working effectively within a globally distributed organization. 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. Preferred Qualifications: - PhD degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, OR a related field. - Proven track record in training large language models and post-training large language models, using reinforcement learning or similar techniques - First-hand experience building agentic AI models using deep learning Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form. Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work. #M365CORE