**Overview**

At Microsoft AI, we are inventing an AI Companion for everyone – an AI designed with real personality and emotional intelligence that’s always in your corner. Defined by effortless communication, extraordinary capabilities, and a new level of connection and support, we want Copilot to define the next wave of technology. This is a rare opportunity to be a part of a team crafting something that challenges everything we know about software and consumer products.

We’re a small, friendly, fast-moving team, supporting one another to do the best work of our lives, always looking to break new ground with an unshakeable dedication to the user. We are proud of what we build, how we build it, and that our products define the AI era while earning the trust of our users. We run lean, prioritize quality, meaningful innovation and polish, and always root our decisions in research and evidence. We ship regularly, so your work will have real and immediate impact.

Starting January 26, 2026, MAI employees are expected to work from a designated Microsoft office at least four days a week if they live within 50 miles (U.S.) or 25 miles (non-U.S., country-specific) of that location. This expectation is subject to local law and may vary by jurisdiction.

Our Core Values

+ Quality. We only deliver category-defining products that delight with their ease of use, guaranteed reliability, and beautiful, coherent design.

+ Simplicity. We don’t overcomplicate. Less is more, always.

+ Safety & Security. The highest standards of security, safety and responsibility are non-negotiable across all our business areas.

+ Evaluation. We pay close attention to signals and aren’t afraid to change course when data and our experience tells us to. We are also careful with our metrics, focusing on delivering long-term sustainable value (rather than short-term KPIs).

+ Kindness. Kindness is at the heart of our org and how we conduct ourselves. We care for, and support and respect one another, beginning again and learning every day.

Our Design Principles

+ Create Magical Moments

+ Guide the Journey

+ Personality is Pivotal

+ Always be Earning Trust

+ Sweat the Details

+ Be in Service to People

*The Role:**

As a senior leader in the UXR org, you will own the quantitative research strategy for our core product pillars. You will partner deeply with **Data Science, Product Management, and Engineering** to create a holistic view of the user journey. Your goal is to turn complex behavioral data into actionable frameworks that drive high-level business decisions.

*Responsibilities**

+ **Bridge the Data Gap:** Partner with Data Scientists to triangulate product telemetry with behavioral research, creating a 360-degree view of user health and opportunity areas.

+ **Drive Innovation:** Design and execute complex quantitative studies (large-scale surveys, longitudinal tracking, MaxDiff, Conjoint, etc.) to identify unmet needs and white-space opportunities for AI features.

+ **Metric Definition:** Develop and refine "Human-Centered Metrics" that track the success of our AI models from a user perspective.

+ **Define "Quality" at Scale:** Develop robust, multidimensional frameworks to translate user-needs into quantitative benchmarks.

+ **Strategic Influence:** Present compelling, data-driven narratives to executive leadership that influence the 12–24 month product roadmap.

+ **Mentorship:** Set the standard for quantitative excellence within the UXR team, mentoring junior researchers and advocating for rigorous methodologies.

*Qualifications**
*Required Qualifications:**

+ Doctorate in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 3+ years User Experience Research experience

+ OR Master's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 4+ years User Experience Research experience

+ OR Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 6+ years User Experience Research experience OR equivalent experience.

*Preferred Qualifications:**

+ **The Expert:** You have **8+ years** of experience in Quantitative UX Research, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or a related social science field within a high-growth tech environment.

+ **The Translator:** You speak "Data Science" fluently. You know how to marry log data with self-reported data to tell a cohesive story.

+ **Technical Proficiency:** You are an expert in **R or Python** for data analysis and have advanced **SQL** skills to pull your own data. You are comfortable working with large, messy datasets.

+ **Psychometrics Expert:** You are skilled in scale development and validation, ensuring that when we ask a human to rate a response as "3/5," that data is statistically reliable and valid.

+ **Behavioral Data at Scale:** You can analyze high-volume interaction logs to find patterns

+ **Familiarity with ML Workflows:** You understand the lifecycle of an LLM—from pre-training to fine-tuning and inference—and know where human insights provide the most leverage.

UX Research 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. (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html)

*Overview**