Overview

The Media Intelligence team within IC3 Media Streaming, M365 Core, is building the next generation of AI-powered media experiences that power Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and future agent-based communication and collaboration systems.

We are seeking a Principal Applied Science Manager to lead a team of applied scientists and engineers working at the intersection of computer vision, machine learning, multimodal AI, real-time media systems, and large-scale cloud services. As a leader, you will drive the strategy, execution, and innovation roadmap for AI-powered media intelligence capabilities spanning video enhancement, scene understanding, visual perception, media quality evaluation, intelligent meeting experiences, and emerging multimodal agent scenarios.

This role requires a blend of scientific leadership, technical depth, people management, product partnership, and strategic thinking. The ideal candidate is passionate about translating cutting-edge research into production experiences used by hundreds of millions of customers worldwide.

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

Technical and Scientific Leadership

• Define and drive the long-term vision and strategy for Media Intelligence across Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and future AI-powered communication experiences.

• Lead research, incubation, and productization of computer vision, multimodal AI, machine learning, and media intelligence technologies.

• Establish technical direction for model architecture, training methodologies, evaluation frameworks, and deployment strategies.

People Leadership

• Lead, coach, and grow a high-performing team of Applied Scientists and Engineers.

• Foster a culture of innovation, scientific rigor, experimentation, customer obsession, and operational excellence.

• Attract, recruit, develop, and retain world-class talent across machine learning, computer vision, and AI.

• Create growth opportunities and technical mentorship pathways for team members.

Product and Business Impact

• Partner closely with engineering, product management, research, and executive stakeholders to identify high-impact opportunities.

• Translate ambiguous business and customer needs into actionable scientific investments and measurable outcomes.

• Influence product roadmaps and strategic investments across Teams, Copilot, IC3, and M365 Core.

• Balance short-term delivery commitments with long-term innovation bets.

Cross-Organization Leadership

• Build strong partnerships with Microsoft Research, Teams, Copilot, Windows, Azure AI, and other platform teams.

• Drive alignment across distributed organizations working on AI-powered media experiences.

• Represent Media Intelligence in leadership reviews, architecture forums, investment discussions, and strategic planning processes.

• Act as a visible thought leader for applied AI and media intelligence across Microsoft.

Operational Excellence

• Establish metrics, experimentation frameworks, and evaluation methodologies for scientific investments.

• Drive responsible AI practices, model quality, privacy, compliance, and production readiness standards.

• Ensure scalable engineering and model development processes that enable rapid innovation while maintaining service quality and reliability.

• Lead planning, prioritization, and execution of a balanced portfolio of innovation and product commitments.

• Creates clarity in ambiguous problem spaces and identifies breakthrough opportunities.

• Raises the scientific and technical bar for the organization.

• Builds trust across disciplines and organizations.

• Balances innovation with execution and customer impact.

• Develops future leaders and fosters an inclusive, high-performing team culture.

• Drives strategic impact beyond their immediate team through influence, partnerships, and thought leadership.

Qualifications

Required 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.
• 1+ year(s) of people management experience.

Other Requirements:

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.

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 of people management 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.
• Multiple years of experience managing scientists, machine learning engineers, or advanced technical teams.
• Demonstrated experience delivering production AI, machine learning, or computer vision systems at scale.

Demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• Computer Vision
• Machine Learning
• Deep Learning
• Multimodal AI
• Video Processing
• Media Systems
• Large-scale Inference Platforms
• Proven track record of translating research innovation into customer-facing products.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving engineering, product management, and research organizations.
• Communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience building multimodal foundation-model powered systems.
• Experience with real-time media, video conferencing, streaming, telecommunications, or collaboration technologies.
• Background in AI-powered perception systems, visual understanding, speech/vision integration, or agentic AI systems.
• Knowledge of model optimization, edge inference, NPU/GPU acceleration, and large-scale cloud inferencing.
• Experience developing evaluation frameworks, benchmarking systems, and quality measurement methodologies for AI models.
• Experience partnering with research organizations and leading incubation-to-product transitions.
• Demonstrated ability to influence organization-wide technical strategy and investment decisions.

Applied Sciences M5 - 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.