Principal Research Software Engineer, Gaming AI

Do you want to help shape and define the future of gaming? Does being at the forefront of innovation excite you?

At Xbox, we are exploring new emerging technology trends to craft the next era of gaming. We are venturing beyond the horizon and charting a course forward with players and creators at the center.

Our goal is to define the future of Xbox by advancing our mission of bringing joy and community to every player on the planet. If you value dynamic and agile teams that are proactively advocating for a diverse workforce, we have a great role for you.

The Xbox Gaming AI team is seeking an experienced Principal Research Software Engineer, Gaming AI with proficient coding and research skills to join our dynamic team. Our mission is to explore and create innovative new AI/ML based features, tools and services- with a focus on diffusion models, generative AI and large language models.

This role requires a combination of technical excellence with depth of expertise in machine learning, generative AI and working hands-on with new developments neural network architectures. Any interest in or experience as a game developer would be a big plus. The candidate is highly collaborative and has a solid ability to bring ideas to life, from minimal viable prototyping to production engineering, working with other software engineers, data scientists, applied scientists, game developers, product managers, and world-class machine learning researchers. The candidate will have robust experience in taking prototypes to production ready features or services.

As with any role focused on incubation and innovation, sound judgement and ability to balance trade-offs in opportunity cost is vital.

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.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, or related technical discipline AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C++ or Python and CUDA

• OR equivalent experience.

• 3+ years coding proficiency in Python and familiarity with machine learning frameworks such as TensorFlow and PyTorch.

• 3+ years' experience with natural language processing and machine learning.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in games development on Unreal Engine, Unity, or sufficiently robust in-house engine technology

• Experience in machine learning, especially as applied to gaming, including reinforcement learning, natural language generation, code generation, computer vision, transformer models, probabilistic programming, statistical modelling, responsible AI issues.

• Experience with ONNX and DirectML

• 5+ years coding proficiency in Python and familiarity with machine learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or ONNX.

• Demonstrated experience converting Machine Learning research into production-ready products or features.

• Ph.D. in Computer Science or related field is desirable

• Passionate about delivering high-quality software

• Ability to effectively communicate highly technical concepts and insights to a non-technical audience.

Software Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $137,600 - $267,000 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 $180,400 - $294,000 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

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until July 6, 2024.

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.

• Develop and implement state-of-the-art techniques for AI/ML powered tools and technologies for gaming.

• Provide advice and mentorship to other team members.

• Work across different incubation projects that may be utilizing different AI/ML approaches and frameworks. Participate in brainstorming, architecture design, experimenting with different ML approaches.

• Develop an understanding of a breadth of machine learning approaches, including latest state of the art from academic publications, to develop optimal player experiences agnostic of technical approach.

• Focused on identifying and addressing real user and business needs, rather than creating solutions that are looking for a problem.

• Being open and flexible on the set of possible solutions, able to balance user desirability, technical feasibility and business viability.

• Validate and bring to life ideas through technical prototypes, working with software engineers, applied scientists and researchers.

• Collaborate and coordinate across multiple teams and stakeholders and solve complex problems that allow for innovative features across all our platforms.

• Commitment to nurturing a diverse and inclusive workplace and team culture, where every voice is heard and valued.

Embody our Culture and Values