Applied Scientist / Applied Scientistess

Overview

The Spatial AI Lab is part of the Applied Sciences Group, a Microsoft research and development organization dedicated to creating next-generation human-computer interaction technologies. We leverage the latest advancements in AI and explore new hardware capabilities and device form factors. Our team of scientists and engineers possesses extensive expertise in computer vision and multi-modal AI, with a specific focus on spatial and embodied AI.

As a Scientist specializing in Multimodal Foundation Models & Robotics on our expanding team, you will engage in research at the intersection of large-scale generative modeling and embodied AI, concentrating on robotics. Your primary objective will be to build the core intelligence for a new generation of agents by training multimodal foundation models that enable them to perceive complex environments, reason about tasks, and act seamlessly across the physical and digital realms. This opportunity allows you to deepen your expertise in training embodied foundation models, deploying algorithms on robotic hardware and large-scale AI systems, while contributing to our pioneering research through publications and collaborative efforts with esteemed partners such as ETH Zurich.

At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. We foster a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day, we adhere to our values of respect, integrity, and accountability, which helps us cultivate a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement novel foundation models and algorithms for general-purpose embodied agents.
• Implement high-performance machine-learning pipelines and optimize data and learning stacks for scalability, efficiency, and performance.
• Optimize and deploy AI models on robotic hardware.
• Collaborate across Microsoft research and engineering teams to transition cutting-edge research into real-world impact.
• Drive the team’s rapid progress, measuring success by the advancement of internal capabilities and meaningful contributions to the scientific community.
• Collaborate with top academic partners like ETH Zurich to advance pioneering research at scale, with opportunities to co-author work in top-tier venues, present at workshops, and mentor students.

Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications:

• A PhD in Robotics, Machine Learning, or a related field, or 3+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Demonstrated coding, debugging, and engineering skills in programming languages such as Python or C++.
• Hands-on experience with modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., Pytorch, Tensorflow, Jax).
• Self-motivated team player, problem solver, and eager to learn.
• Ability to present complex technical concepts to a diverse audience.

Other Requirements:

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements is required for this role. These requirements include specialized security screenings:

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position requires passing the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Additional Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in Foundation Models: Hands-on training experience in at least one of the following topics: LLMs, large vision-language models (VLMs), video generative models and diffusion algorithms, or action-based transformers and Vision Language Action models (VLAs).
• Experience with Large-Scale ML Systems: Familiarity with large-scale machine learning compute systems.
• Experience in Robotics: Hands-on training in robot learning techniques such as reinforcement learning, imitation learning, and classical control methods.
• Solid understanding of robot kinematics, dynamics, and sensors.
• Familiarity with control algorithms such as PID, model predictive control (MPC), and whole-body control.
• A track record of impact, demonstrated through first-author research publications at top-tier machine learning or robotics conferences (e.g., CoRL, RSS, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR), or contributions to successful industry initiatives.

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until filled. Apply online using the form below. Please note that only applications matching the job profile will be considered.

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 reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application process, please read more about requesting accommodations.