About the role

Aplyr's Quick Take

This role is for a Research Software Engineer focused on developing Generative AI technologies at Microsoft. You'll work on creating and refining AI models and systems that enable autonomous agents to perform tasks and collaborate with humans. It's primarily an individual contributor role that involves hands-on coding and system design.

Good fit

Ideal candidates have a strong background in software engineering and AI, with experience in developing machine learning models. You should be comfortable working independently and collaborating with researchers and engineers, likely requiring several years of relevant experience.

Worth noting

The salary range is quite broad, indicating potential for negotiation based on experience. The role is part of a cutting-edge research team, which could be appealing for those looking to work on innovative AI solutions, but the expectations and responsibilities may be demanding.

Overview

Microsoft Research AI Frontiers lab is seeking applications for the position of Research Software Engineer – Generative AI to join our team in NY or Redmond.

 
In AI Frontiers, we believe the next chapter of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be shaped by reliable digital workers that can be first class citizens in agent-native organizations. This means shifting from a paradigm where humans do the work assisted by AI, to one where autonomous AI agents execute entire workflows, collaborating with humans and other agents and guided by human direction and oversight. 

Our projects have been guided by this mission, such as our agentic reasoning models (Phi family), our latest Computer Use Model (Fara), our synthetic data generation pipeline (AgentInstruct), our agent frameworks and experiences (AutoGen, Magentic-One and Magentic-UI), as well as our agentic ecosystems (Magentic Marketplace).

Our ongoing research focuses on four large areas:

Closing the capability gap of current agents by enhancing their reasoning, enabling continual learning and adaptation across various tasks and modalities.
Closing the reliability gap of current agents through improved robustness and human interactions.
Reimagining workflows for an agent-native world where autonomous agents collaborate seamlessly with each other and with humans.
Creating rich end-to-end experiences that showcase these capabilities in real world agentic applications.

As a Research Software Engineer – Generative AI you will play a crucial role in developing, improving, and exploring the capabilities of Generative AI models and agentic applications. Your work will have a significant impact on the development of cutting-edge technologies, advancing state-of-the-art and creating practical solutions to real-world problems.

Responsibilities

As Research Software Engineer in AI Frontiers, you will contribute to one of our core pillars working with researchers, engineers, and product groups to create research breakthroughs and realize your ideas in products and services used worldwide.
You will create data, evaluation and training pipelines for training agentic models to reliably use computers, tools and complete tasks collaborating with other agents and humans
You’ll showcase your system design thinking, understanding of both user-facing technologies and GenAI technologies to drive efficient, high-quality execution and communication, while launching innovative AI features.
You will work with our Technical Program Management (PM) team to understand customer needs and our research portfolio to create compelling proof of concepts so customers can take advantage of our innovations

Qualifications

Required Qualifications: 

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, System Engineering or related field AND 2+ years’ technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python, OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications  

Master's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, System Engineering, Human Computer Interaction, or related field AND 3+ years experience working in a software engineering team and/or shipping production code OR equivalent experience 
4+ years of python experience.
2+ years’ experience working on GenAI infrastructure, products or prototypes. 
2+ years architecting and implementing GenAI systems and/or the infrastructure for building these systems.
Experience in developing and maintaining open-source projects. Providing a link to GitHub profile (if available) and/or code samples, is highly encouraged. 
Experience evaluating AI models and systems including creating benchmark datasets, evaluation pipelines, running and debugging experiments, and tracking improvements.
Experience deploying or managing applications or infrastructure pipelines on a major cloud platform (e.g., Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform). 
Ability to collaborate, communicate effectively, and work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

#MSRR

Software Engineering IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $100,600 - $199,000 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $131,400 - $215,400 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

Software Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $158,400 - $258,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

Skills & Tags

Aplyr's read

Microsoft is a technology giant shaping global computing, attracting talent interested in innovation and impact across software, cloud, and AI sectors.
Synthesized from recent postings & public sources

What's promising

•Strong commitment to innovation in AI and cloud computing.
•Diverse range of roles from technical to managerial, offering career growth.
•Financially stable with a robust global presence and market influence.

What to watch

•Complex organizational structure can slow decision-making processes.
•High competition for roles may limit entry-level opportunities.
•Potential for work-life balance challenges in high-demand positions.

Why Microsoft

•Pioneer in personal and business computing with a legacy of innovation.
•Extensive global reach with a diverse workforce and inclusive culture.
•Leader in integrating AI into mainstream software and cloud services.

Aplyr’s read is generated by AI from public sources. Was it useful?

About Microsoft

Microsoft

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Microsoft is a global technology company that develops, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products, services, and devices. Known for its Windows operating system and Office productivity suite, Microsoft has a significant impact on personal and business computing worldwide.