New

Principal Research Software Development Engineer

Microsoft
$139,900.00 - $274,800.00 / yr
United States, Washington, Redmond
Feb 17, 2026
Overview Research Software Development Engineer - Microsoft Research Catalyst Lab Join a team working at the center of frontier AI.You'llcollaborate directly with researchers in one of the world's premier research labs, transforming breakthrough ideas into real, reliable, scalable capabilities used across Microsoft products. This role sits at the high impact intersection of research engineering product, where the work you do directly shapes what AI becomes next. Focus Areas You May Work On Agentic Memory Efficiency The physical world Security Frontier modelarchitectures Mathematics and logic applied to LLMs WhatWe'reLookingFor You might be a great fit if you: Love the zone where research meets engineering - the space wherenew ideasbecome real systems. Feel energized by messy, open-ended problems where exploration and clarity are equally important. Can turn a paper into a prototype - and a prototype into a product. Care about performance, safety, correctness, and experience, not just cleverness. Communicate clearly, collaborate naturally, and debuganything withcalm and rigor. Wantto build systems that meaningfully advance what AI can do, not justiterate onwhat already exists. Bring your drive, rigor, curiosity, and the ambition to create something extraordinary. How we work Weoperatewith urgency and ambition: Short iteration cycles: hypothesis prototype evaluate refine ship Deep collaborationwith researchers inventing new capabilities High ownershipof systems, experiments, and outcomes Evidence-driven decisionsinformed by evals, metrics, and safety signals A builder's mindset: clarity, craft, and care for the details that make systems robust You'lljoin a team driven by curiosity, accountability, and the conviction that we are building something thattruly movesthe field forward, tackling problems thatdon'teven have names yet alongside people defining the state of the art. If this excites you, we want to meet you Bring your curiosity. Bring yourcraft. Bring your appetite for building the future. And come work with people who are redefiningwhat'spossible in AI;in the place where tomorrow's breakthroughs are being born. Microsoft'smission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Asemployeeswe 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. In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positivelyimpactour culture every day. #Research Responsibilities Translate research into systems:take early concepts and turn them into robust prototypes and product-ready components. Design highvelocity experimentation loops:datasets, evals, benchmarks, agent flows, safety tests, and decision frameworks. Scale andoptimize:training, inference, efficiency, latency, cost, reliability. Partner crossfunctionally:coinventwith researchers,codesignwith product teams, and land features that matter. As a Research Software Development Engineer inMicrosoft Research, you will design, develop, execute, and implement technology research projects in collaboration with other team members, research partners, and product groups. Work with the team toidentify, evaluate, and deploy new AI tools and technologies to accelerate our progress. As a member of a worldclass research organization, you will be a part of research breakthroughs and play a crucial role in driving innovation from the lab toproduct. Embody ourcultureandvalues. Qualifications Required Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience. Preferred Qualifications: A successful candidateneedn'thave all, or any, of these qualifications: Ability tocompetentlyoperateacross an entire modern AI-centric software stack.Adaptability to dive into a new domain quickly.Polyglot technologycuriosity.Be a voracious learner of new languages, paradigms, tools, and techniques, consuming publications. Building agentic systems thatoperateat cloud scale using common agent protocols and coding frameworks. Systematic use of benchmarking and other data-driven techniques to guide design and development. Ability to thrive in the face of ambiguity, able to prototype starting with a research concept or paper rather than a spec. Bea thought partner andoperateas part of a multidisciplinary team as we build prototypes quickly, fail fast, pivot, and adapt. Experience with data science, machine learning (ML), Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Processing (NLP), computer vision, multimodal input and processing, softwaresecurity. Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $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.