Overview

About AIx Design & Research

If you're curious, creative, and excited by how AI is reshaping the practice of design, we'd love to work with you! The AI Experiences Design & Research team is a community of designers, researchers, and makers reimagining how people interact with technology. We design across Microsoft's AI-powered experiences, including Copilot, Edge, Bing, MSN, and emerging products, creating end-to-end journeys that span devices, platforms, and contexts. We're looking for people who embrace experimentation, use new tools to expand what's possible, and aren't afraid to move beyond traditional design boundaries. Together, we're building experiences that make AI more useful, intuitive, and delightful for billions of people around the world. Join us as we reimagine not only the products people use, but the future of design itself!

The opportunity

We’re looking for a hands-on design engineer who thinks like an artist and builds for the browser. On the Copilot Design team at Microsoft, you’ll originate a distinctive visual point of view and turn it into expressive, useful interactive experiences. Composition, typography, light, material, timing and physical behavior are part of your design vocabulary; JavaScript, shaders and real-time rendering are part of your medium.

This is a specialist role for someone who can invent the experience and code it, not only implement a finished design. You’ll work across artistic exploration and production engineering, balancing surprise and delight with clarity, accessibility and responsiveness. The work asks for both ambition and restraint: know when motion makes an interaction more understandable, and when a quieter experience serves people better.

Responsibilities

Conceive, sketch in code and refine distinctive interactive experiences. Make artistic decisions about composition, typography, light, material, rhythm and physical behavior, then test how those choices work in a real interface.

Create code-driven motion, custom shaders and procedural or generative visuals that respond to user input and product state. Design coherent transitions and behaviors, not just isolated effects.

Explore useful assistant interactions such as activity and progress, transitions, interruption and feedback. These are illustrative opportunities to investigate, not a commitment to a particular product roadmap.

Develop production-ready components and partner with product engineering on integration, testing and maintenance. Carry the visual intent through implementation, including state changes, edge cases and graceful degradation.

Turn successful explorations into reusable motion and graphics primitives, components and tools. Document the artistic and technical choices so other designers and engineers can extend the work without losing its character.

Profile CPU and GPU work, frame time, memory, loading and input responsiveness. Build accessible, reduced-motion and non-GPU alternatives, and validate behavior across browsers, devices and different levels of graphics capability.

Set a high creative and technical craft bar while staying hands-on. Mentor through critique and code review, explain trade-offs clearly and help partners choose purposeful expression over unnecessary spectacle.

Qualifications

We value demonstrated craft and ownership, whether developed through professional roles, independent practice, open-source work or self-directed learning. Equivalent practical experience and nontraditional paths are welcome. The specialist capabilities below matter more than having used every tool in a particular stack.

Required skills:

Master's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Graphic Design, Product Design, Visual Design, Human Computer Interaction, or related field AND 4+ years experience working in product or service design and/or shipping production code
- OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Graphic Design, Product Design, Visual Design, Human Computer Interaction, or related field AND 6+ years experience working in product or service design and/or shipping production code
- OR 8+ years experience working in product or service design and/or shipping production code
- OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

A portfolio showing original artistic direction and the ability to originate, develop and iterate visual ideas in code. You can explain why your choices in composition, typography, light, material and motion serve the experience.

Strong hands-on coded motion and interaction design, including timing, easing, sequencing, spring or physics-based behavior, and responsive or interruptible transitions. Motion is a core craft, not a finishing layer.

Hands-on real-time browser graphics using WebGL or WebGPU, including writing and adapting custom shaders. You understand rendering fundamentals well enough to shape the result, debug it and explain the trade-offs; GLSL or WGSL are examples of relevant shader languages.

Strong JavaScript/TypeScript and contemporary browser engineering skills, including component architecture, asynchronous state, input handling, responsive interfaces and code review. You can integrate a graphics experience into a maintained product, not only a standalone demo.

Experience profiling and improving browser rendering, loading, memory and input responsiveness. You can preserve visual intent while meeting accessibility needs, honoring reduced motion and providing reliable non-GPU paths across browsers and devices.

Demonstrated ownership of ambiguous work from creative direction through delivery, with clear communication and effective design–engineering partnership. You welcome critique, make sound trade-offs and help others raise their artistic and technical craft.
Libraries are flexible. Three.js, React Three Fiber, GSAP and Motion are examples of useful tools, not a checklist. We care about the ideas you originate, your depth in motion and real-time graphics, and the quality of the browser experience you deliver.
Deeper WebGPU, compute or GPU profiling experience, including rendering pipelines, simulations or techniques for efficient procedural and generative graphics.
Experience building reusable motion or graphics systems, authoring tools or creative workflows that other people adopt and can maintain.
Experience designing for AI or assistant experiences, especially making complex or changing states understandable. An AI-specific background is welcome, not required.
A practice of sharing craft through thoughtful technical writing, creative coding experiments, open-source contributions, teaching or mentorship.

UX Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 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 $188,000 - $304,200 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.

About the company

Microsoft builds workplace software, operating systems and cloud infrastructure for consumers, businesses and government agencies, from small organizations to global enterprises. Microsoft 365 combines Word and Excel with Teams communication and Copilot AI features, while Windows runs PCs and Surface supplies the company's own computers. Azure rents computing capacity, storage and databases to build and run web applications. Microsoft also sells Xbox consoles and games, collecting revenue through software licenses, subscriptions, usage charges and product sales. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Redmond, Washington

Founded

1975

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

US corporate staff receive education support: eligible, approved graduate coursework qualifies for up to $10,000 annually.
Cloud demand expands: July 2026 results showed Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 43% year-over-year in fiscal Q4.
Investment has an earnings cushion: July 2026 results reported $155.2 billion consolidated operating profit for fiscal 2026.

What critics are saying

Performance reviews include security: every Microsoft employee must discuss their security contribution with their manager.
Office flexibility depends on the role: Microsoft's postings specify requirements ranging from fully remote to fully on-site.
Cloud capacity faces local limits: Microsoft describes power-grid delays and water constraints affecting US datacenter expansion.

What makes Microsoft unique

Hybrid customers stay within reach: Azure Arc manages servers across customer datacenters and competing clouds.
Developer reach extends beyond Azure: Microsoft's GitHub hosts code collaboration alongside AI coding tools.
Professional data widens its business: Microsoft owns LinkedIn's recruiting, advertising and workplace-learning network.

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Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
401(k) Company Match
Professional Development Budget
Conference Attendance Budget
Flexible Work Hours
Remote Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

1 year growth

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Yahoo Finance

Oct 23rd, 2026

VW gives 330,000 staff Microsoft Copilot while pushing a pay freeze to 2030

Volkswagen has equipped more than 330,000 employees with Microsoft Copilot, the AI assistant built into Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams, Microsoft said on October 21. The group says it is used in engineering, production, procurement, and sales. Two days earlier, Volkswagen's labour representatives said the company wants to hold salaries at 2026 levels for the rest of the decade. The company declined to comment on what it called "speculation." Trade union IG Metall is seeking a 5% raise over 12 months. At Microsoft's list price of $30 per user a month, 330,000 seats would cost at most $118.8 million a year. Neither company has disclosed what Volkswagen pays. Volkswagen is also targeting €6 billion in annual net savings by 2030 and plans job cuts in Germany.

TechCrunch

Oct 22nd, 2026

Microsoft's AI diagnoses complex cases 83% of the time, versus 36% for generalist doctors

Microsoft's AI diagnostic system correctly diagnosed complex medical cases in a simulation 83% of the time, against 36% for generalist physicians, according to a study published in Science. The system, MAI-DxO, coordinates several AI agents that question a patient, order tests, and debate a diagnosis. The cases came from the New England Journal of Medicine. Specialists and physician teams, who usually handle such cases, were not part of the comparison. Much of the gain came from stronger underlying models, especially OpenAI's GPT-5 and GPT-5.5. MAI-DxO helped most on complex cases and with weaker models, but little on emergency department cases. Microsoft AI chief executive officer Mustafa Suleyman called the result a step toward "medical superintelligence." Microsoft is working with Mayo Clinic on a healthcare foundation model, and will test MAI-DxO with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

NPR

Oct 22nd, 2026

Amazon's $40B data centre push strains drought-hit Aragon as residents fight back

Aragon, a drought-stricken region of northeast Spain, has become a magnet for US tech companies building data centres. Amazon Web Services promises to spend almost $40 billion on several large complexes there, and Microsoft and Blackstone have also signed agreements. Regional authorities, which call Aragon the "Virginia of southern Europe," offered tax breaks and fast-tracked permits. They expect jobs and a place in the "new economy" that AI will bring. Amazon says it will create 6,200 permanent jobs. Residents and farmers fear water shortages, noise, and harm to wildlife, including birds killed by wind turbines that power the centres. Environmental groups have crowdfunded a legal challenge to Amazon's expansion and say the approvals were rushed.

Associated Press

Oct 22nd, 2026

Tech giants offer $1B community payouts and less secrecy as data centre backlash grows

US tech giants are promising host communities more money and fewer secrets as opposition to data centres grows ahead of the midterm elections, with control of Congress and 36 governors' offices at stake. Meta and Amazon each plan to spend $1 billion on financial incentives for host communities in the coming years. Google says its local programme investment will reach $1 billion by the end of 2027, and it will pay full real property taxes on new campuses. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have stopped requiring officials to sign non-disclosure agreements. Meta says it is reviewing their use. Critics are unconvinced. One activist called Amazon's commitments "propaganda.

Ars Technica

Oct 21st, 2026

Xbox tests cloud playtime packs from $4 for 10 hours, even for games you own

Microsoft has begun rolling out pay-as-you-go Cloud Playtime packs to Xbox Insiders, letting non-subscribers stream games they already own. Buyers must own a cloud-playable game or, for select games, use free-to-play access. Introductory prices are $4 for 10 hours, $8 for 25 hours, and $12 for 50 hours. That works out to about $0.40, $0.32, and $0.24 an hour. Purchased time stays available until used. The packs follow Microsoft's September decision to sharply limit the streaming catalogue for Game Pass subscribers. Unlike Game Pass, which includes a few monthly streaming hours, the packs come on top of the cost of buying the game.

Microsoft

Principal Design Engineer - Interactive Graphics, Copilot

About the job

About the company

Get referred to Microsoft

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

What critics are saying

What makes Microsoft unique

Benefits

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

1 year growth

2 year growth