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Come build community, explore your passions and do your best work at Microsoft with thousands of University graduates from every corner of the world.  

Conduct research and lead research collaborations that yield new insights, theories, analyses, data, algorithms, and/or prototypes that advance the state-of-the-art of computer science and engineering, as well as general scientific knowledge. This opportunity will allow you to formulate research problems in an area of study and initiates the design, development, execution, and implementation of a research agenda to further academic knowledge and close identified gaps. You will provide expertise to product or business groups and may create long-term business opportunities through research outcomes but not responsible for addressing immediate product needs or demonstrating a clear path to product.

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. Learn more about our cultural attributes 

Those hired into this role are invited to participate in Microsoft Aspire Experience, a two-year learning and development experience where you’ll build your network, cultivate intentional capabilities and gain perspective into the career opportunities across Microsoft’s many exciting businesses. 

Required Qualifications

• Doctorate in relevant field OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience publishing academic papers as a lead author or essential contributor.
• Experience participating in a top conference in relevant research domain.

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.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. 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.

Researcher IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $94,300 - $182,600 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 $120,900 - $198,600 per year.

Researcher IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $112,000 - $218,400 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 $145,800 - $238,600 per year.

Microsoft has different base pay ranges for different work locations within the United States, which allows us to pay employees competitively and consistently in different geographic markets (see below). The range above reflects the potential base pay across the U.S. for this role (except as noted below); the applicable base pay range will depend on what ultimately is determined to be the candidate’s primary work location. Individual base pay depends on various factors, in addition to primary work location, such as complexity and responsibility of role, job duties/requirements, and relevant experience and skills. Base pay ranges are reviewed and typically updated each year. Offers are made within the base pay range applicable at the time.

At Microsoft certain roles are eligible for additional rewards, including merit increases, annual bonus and stock. These awards are allocated based on individual performance. In addition, certain roles also have the opportunity to earn sales incentives based on revenue or utilization, depending on the terms of the plan and the employee’s role. Benefits/perks listed here may vary depending on the nature of employment with Microsoft and the country work location. U.S.-based employees have access to healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan and company match, short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, wellbeing benefits, paid vacation time, paid sick and mental health time, and several paid holidays, among others.

Our commitment to pay equity

We are committed to the principle of pay equity – paying employees equitably for substantially similar work.  To learn more about pay equity and our other commitments to increase representation and strengthen our culture of inclusion, check out our annual Diversity & Inclusion Report. (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/inside-microsoft/annual-report )

Understanding roles at Microsoft​

The top of this page displays the role for which the base pay ranges apply – Researcher IC3, Researcher IC4.

The way we define roles includes two things: discipline (the type of work) and career stage (scope and complexity).  The career stage has two parts – the first identifies whether the role is a manager (M), an individual contributor (IC), an admin-technician-retail (ATR) job, or an intern. The second part identifies the relative seniority of the role – a higher number (or later letter alphabetically in the case of ATR) indicates greater scope and complexity.

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

Execution of Research Agendas

• Gain expertise in one or more subareas of research (e.g., Object Recognition, Text Classification) and understand the corresponding literature and applicable research techniques.
• Identify one or more clear research problems that are academically novel and articulate a clear research project goal.
• Research and develop an understanding of the state-of-the-art insights, tools, technologies, or methods being used in the research community. Contribute knowledge around several specialized tools/methods to support planning for research projects.
• Bring a research project to successful completion yielding new algorithms, prototypes, theories, tools, methods, analyses, insights, or collections of data which solve one or more open research problems.
• Understand and follow ethics and privacy policies when executing research processes and/or collecting data/information. Help to develop and deploy computing technologies that uphold trustworthiness, robustness, privacy, values, and ethical considerations.

Impact

• Establishes collaborative relationships with relevant product and business groups inside or outside of Microsoft and provides expertise or technology to them. Participates in technology transfer attempts, standards organizations, filing patents, authoring white papers, developing or maintaining tools/services for internal Microsoft use, or consulting for product or business groups.
• Collaborates with members of their research group to contribute to existing work on a research problem and assists in writing and/or presenting papers at workshops and conferences. Publishes papers as co-author or lead author for high-quality conferences and journals, with an impact similar to that of a post-doctorate.        

Capability Building

• Supports mentorship by assisting with onboarding of research interns or other entry-level team members.