Senior Applied Scientist - Microsoft Search, Assistant, and Intelligence (MSAI)

Microsoft; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company in Greater London is seeking a Senior Applied Scientist to drive innovation in AI solutions for Microsoft 365 Copilot. The role requires expertise in SFT and Python, along with strong collaboration within teams. The ideal candidate will have a relevant degree and experience in AI modeling. This position comes with extensive benefits and a commitment to personal and professional growth.

Benefits

Industry leading healthcare

Educational resources

Discounts on products and services

Generous time away

Maternity and paternity leave

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, or related field.
• Experience in SFT and/or RL modeling.
• Proficient years of Python coding skill.

Responsibilities

• Design and run experiments, define metrics, develop ML pipelines.
• Partner with Engineering to translate product vision into architecture.
• Work with Microsoft Research and AI platform teams.

Skills

Experience in Supervised Fine Tuning (SFT)

Reinforcement learning modeling

Python coding skills

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Statistics or related field

Master's Degree in Statistics or related field

Doctorate in Statistics or related field

Job description

Overview

We are looking for a Senior Applied Scientist to help shape the future of Microsoft 365 Copilot, with a focus on Search, Chat and Agent experiences. This role sits within the Microsoft Search, Assistant, and Intelligence (MSAI) organization, which powers the intelligence behind M365 Copilot by combining cutting‑edge advances in generative AI with personalized search and recommendation systems. As a Senior Applied Scientist in MSAI, you will work in an exciting and fast‑paced, collaborative environment.

You will partner closely with engineering and product teams to innovate, design and evaluate end‑to‑end AI solutions that serve millions of enterprise users. This is a high‑impact role where you will influence technical strategy, shape product direction, and collaborate across Microsoft to deliver AI‑powered experiences that help users accomplish more with less effort.

You’ll join a fast‑paced, collaborative environment that brings together talent from across Microsoft—including Microsoft Research—to push the boundaries of what’s possible with Large Language Models (LLMs), reasoning systems, real‑time orchestration platforms and modern personalized search and recommender systems.

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.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND related experience (e.g., statistics predictive analytics, research) OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research) OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research) OR equivalent experience.
• Experience in SFT (Supervised Fine Tuning) and / or RL (reinforcement learning) modeling experience and / or proven experience of shipping search or recommender systems at scale.
• Proficient years of Python coding skill.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Statistics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND proficient years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research) OR Doctorate in Statistics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering or related field AND related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research) OR equivalent experience.
• Experience designing and implementing agentic AI models and systems.

#M365Core

Responsibilities

• Advance the science : Design and run experiments, define and validate metrics, and develop ML pipelines and models in areas like reinforcement learning, reasoning and Chain-of-Thought (CoT) optimization, Search, Recommender Systems and LLMs—all while upholding best practices in Responsible AI and Privacy‑Preserving ML.
• Drive product innovation : Partner with Engineering, PM, and Design to translate product vision and industry trends into scalable, reliable, and agile architecture.
• Collaborate across Microsoft : Work closely with Microsoft Research, Azure, AI platform teams, and product groups to bring cutting‑edge AI into real‑world applications.
• Champion customer impact : Engage with customers and internal teams to deeply understand pain points and drive improvements that matter.
• Lead and mentor : Provide technical leadership to junior scientists and engineers, and scale your learnings across the broader product group.
• Define success : Establish and evolve success metrics that reflect platform and product growth.
• Stay ahead : Keep up with the latest research and foster a thriving applied science culture. Publishing is encouraged, though not required.

Benefits / perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

Industry leading healthcare
Educational resources
Discounts on products and services
Savings and investments
Maternity and paternity leave
Generous time away
Giving programs
Opportunities to network and connect