We are looking for a Principal Applied Scientist to join our team to innovate the best methods to approach interactive data in order to assess real time threats. You will be leveraging and building upon a broad set of research from Microsoft, academia, and industry to develop novel methods, tools, and frameworks for demonstrating defensive capabilities. You will collaborate with internal and external partners to apply your research to real-world scenarios and challenges. For those interested in making a meaningful impact in protecting real people and businesses, don’t miss the opportunity to join this team.

Security represents the most critical priorities for our customers in a world awash in digital threats, regulatory scrutiny, and estate complexity. Microsoft Security aspires to make the world a safer place for all. We want to reshape security and empower every user, customer, and developer with a security cloud that protects them with end to end, simplified solutions. The Microsoft Security organization accelerates Microsoft’s mission and bold ambitions to ensure that our company and industry is securing digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds in our customers’ heterogeneous environments, as well as ensuring the security of our own internal estate. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world.

The Microsoft Security Messaging and Web Security Research Team is responsible for defending Microsoft’s customers against threats across ALL messaging and web platforms. We do this through applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world.  As the methods that attackers use evolves, our solutions adapt and anticipate. This is an exciting opportunity to innovate to detect threats in real time across new platforms and technologies through emerging generative AI capabilities. The opportunity to work with data at scale, utilizing emergent technologies, and further empowered by Microsoft's unique set of threat intelligence is the perfect challenge for any Principal Applied Scientist.

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.

Responsibilities

• Conduct cutting-edge research that builds towards transformative defensive security capabilities with demonstrated scientific rigor.

• Innovative principles and forward-looking concepts guided by research trends in academia, OSS and industry.

• Form strategic partnerships with thought leaders across the company, in the industry and across domains.

• Work with defenders, threat hunters, PMs, and engineers to apply this research in new foundational product features.

• Partner with engineering to best define the ML requirements for these new platforms to allow for responsible and frictionless ML ops Identify partnership opportunities to produce greater impact, innovative solutions, and the best-in-class protection that our customers require.

Other

• Embody our Culture (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about/corporate-values) and Values (https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/culture)

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years 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 4+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)

• OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)

• OR equivalent experience.

• 4+ years of experience in Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, or other machine learning frameworks.

• 4+ years of relevant industry experience driving cutting-edge research into real world impact.  

• Experience with generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) / agentic frameworks, large language models, risk quantification, anomaly detection, clustering, statistics, time series analysis, reinforcement learning, or graph algorithms.

Other Requirem ents :

• 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. 

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 9+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)

• OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)

• OR equivalent experience.

• 5+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).

• 2+ years experience presenting at conferences or other events in the outside research/industry community as an invited speaker.

• 5+ years experience conducting research as part of a research program (in academic or industry settings).

• 3+ years experience developing and deploying live production systems, as part of a product team.

• 3+ years experience developing and deploying products or systems at multiple points in the product cycle from ideation to shipping.

• Experience in safety and ethical aspects of AI

• Experience in technology transfer of applied research

• Experience conducting high-quality research and publishing

• Experience in working with large-scale, streaming datasets, and

• Experience in cyber security and safety domains, such as phishing detection, fraud prevention, adversary tradecraft, emerging threats, or security operations center (SOC) operations.

Applied Sciences IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $137,600 - $267,000 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 $180,400 - $294,000 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

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until November 26, 2024

#MSFTSecurity #AfroTech2024 #MSECAIR

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html) .