Would you like to work on the hardest problems in computing with the biggest user impact? We are looking for a talented Applied Scientist - an individual with a desire to develop solutions to difficult problems, to create, innovate, and define the next generation of Enterprise Search and Productivity tools. If you have a passion for challenges and excelling in a dynamic, team-oriented environment then you will be interested in us. 

The Microsoft Search Assistant and Intelligence team in the London office is focused on improving key parts of Microsoft software and services, including the Microsoft Office 365 suite, using Machine Learning, Information Retrieval and Natural Language Processing techniques. Our efforts leverage the entire breadth and depth of the Office 365 system – a distributed system with hundreds of thousands of computers tuned to empower our users by responding in milliseconds.  

We need strong talent to improve our results. This is a rare opportunity to join an exceptionally strong team where you can see an immediate impact through your contributions.   

Our office is in London, and it is a truly multi-cultural environment with people coming from many different countries and continents. You will work with world class colleagues as well as internationally respected researchers. 

Success in this position requires a broad set of experiences and skills, ranging from strong software engineering skills, broad knowledge of Information Retrieval / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Natural Language Processing techniques and the ability to build a collaborative working relationship with other scientists and engineers. 

Responsibilities

• Your goal would be to pursue high impact work by delivering high quality features on critical areas that our users value. 
• You will work with a team of applied scientists and developers who are responsible for all stages of the research & development cycle including early ideation, design, implementation and scaling it internationally.
• Your focus will be on the inception and development of state-of-the-art methods in Natural Language Processing, Information Retrieval, Machine Learning, Graph Learning and Deep Learning that have product impact on millions of O365 users.
• You will collaborate closely with Microsoft Research and product teams to create relationships and the next generation of innovation in our products and services.
• You will have the opportunity to participate in frequent hackathons that allow you to work with many different teams from around the world. 

Qualifications

• You should at a minimum have a Bachelors Degree (or equivalent experience) and a strong background in one of; Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Information Retrieval, or related subjects. 
• You should have 4+ years of professional experience developing product level algorithms, with a proven track record of successfully shipping applied research to production. 
• You should have 4+ years of professional experience in developing or applying predictive analytics, statistical modelling, data mining, or machine learning algorithms, especially at scale. 
• You should have 4+ years of professional experience working with Distributed systems like Spark, Hadoop etc. 
• You should have a growth mindset and be an advocate for inclusion and diversity. 

Preferred qualifications: 

• You should preferably have a PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Information Retrieval, or related subjects 
• Publications in top tier applied science conferences such as RecSys, WSDM, KDD, WWW, SIGIR, ACL and EMNLP are highly desirable. 

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.

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