Principal Researcher - Machine Learning - Microsoft Research - Microsoft

We seek outstanding applicants for Principal Researcher positions at Microsoft Research Montreal. Applicants must have the passion and ability to craft and pursue an independent research program to further our understanding of deep learning methods. 

Despite the impressive accuracy of large models on many benchmarks, many of their properties still elude us. Whether it is about identifying their failure modes, understanding their robustness, their training dynamics or their ability to transfer knowledge, we are looking to push the boundaries of our understanding. We welcome candidates interested both in more theoretical approaches and in principled empirical studies of these models.

The Microsoft Research Montréal Lab’s Machine Learning team develops state-of-the-art theoretically grounded methods to broaden the applicatibility of ML systems, with the goals of 1/ providing a deeper understanding of the core principles underlying current and future algorithms and 2/ improving real products through machine learning. 

The team has three main focus areas:  

Gaming and AI, building tools to improve the gaming experience. Our research covers directions like reinforcement learning, imitation learning, natural language, and compositional reasoning for out-of-distribution generalization. We bring these tools together to make artificial agents more intelligent, more teachable, more understandable, and more fun! 

Language for Learning and Interaction, exploring how AI agents can use language as a tool to learn from and interact with the world. Our research directions include learning prompt-based skill repertoires, conditioning interactive agents with language and linguistic knowledge, and using grounded language models as world models. We envision AI companions that we can teach through conversation and demonstration. 

Out-of-distribution generalization and robustness, designing models that can efficiently adapt to changing environments. This theme includes topics such as modular and reusable architectures for few-shot and zero-shot learning, off-policy and offline reinforcement learning, and the detection of spurious correlations. We also work on learning factored, disentangled, and causal representations for images, language, reinforcement learning as well as the medical domain.

In addition to these themes, we work in close collaboration with the MSR Montréal’s FATE team, addressing questions such as the proper evaluation of language models for harm assessment and the use of reinforcement learning and optimization tools for harm mitigation. 

Microsoft Research Montreal offers an exhilarating and supportive environment for cutting-edge research, both theoretical and applied, with access to an extraordinary diversity of big and small data sources, an open publications policy, and close links to top academic institutions in the Montreal AI community and around the world. We are particularly proud of the interdisciplinary work that MSR has fostered, and welcome applications from those interested in working across disciplines. For more information on the lab's members and their interests, see the lab's webpage.  

#Research

As a principal researcher, you will define your own research agenda, driving forward an effective program of basic or applied research. We highly value collaboration and developing new ideas with members of your research group and across MSR labs. We are looking for a candidate able to inspire others and foster ambitious research initiatives, leveraging varied skillsets and interests. Working at Microsoft, you will also have the opportunity to realize your ideas in products and services used worldwide. 

Required Qualifications:

• Doctorate in relevant field AND 3+ years related reasearch experience OR equivalent experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• A strong long-term research program in a relevant field demonstrated by publications in top-tier conferences/journals.  
• A demonstrated ability to shape a research vision for a team or the community, provide technical leadership, and deliver on that vision.  
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to the success of others, e.g., though mentorship
• At least 1 high-impact work (e.g., initiating a new research area, major product launch, policy change)
• Demonstrated experience fostering diversity, inclusion, and belonging in a research environment 
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment, and spark research projects that span two or more of the top-level areas listed above  
• Participation in the research community and leadership, such as service on conference program committees, workshop organization, teaching or tutorials, or outreach activities   
• Strong communication skills  
• Ability to synthesize theory and applications  
• Strong computing and/or experimental skills  
• Ability to transfer research in collaboration with product teams 

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. 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.