Director of Applied Research (IC) - Extreme Retrieval

Apply on the link above. In addition, please ensure that you send an e-mail to the MSRI AIML Hiring Committee<msrimlrec@microsoft.com> attaching your CV and sharing details of relevant work experience, evidence of leadership, highlights of major accomplishments, summary of significant product impact and ML knowledge in the body of your e-mail.

 Join us to redefine information retrieval at scale!
Microsoft Research India is seeking a hands-on,  ambitious and technically strong individual contributor to lead applied research for a high-impact project specializing in large-scale machine learning for enterprise and consumer retrieval -- think RAG powering all of Microsoft’s Copilots, web-scale retrieval for search engines and personalized recommendations for billions of users. You’ll report to a Distinguished Scientist and Vice President, and work with a world-class team of researchers and engineers.

Why MSR India?
Work at the forefront of machine learning and systems with a team that sets the bar for rigor and impact. Your work will directly influence how retrieval research is translated into reusable engineering systems and scaled across Microsoft products and experiences. You will set the engineering standards, core interfaces, and evaluation framework that govern how new retrieval methods and models are built, validated and adopted across Microsoft. You will also have the opportunity to present the team’s work at the senior most levels of leadership (CEO, CTO, and Board) and shape their thinking in this space.

What you’ll do

• Play the role of a technically strong ML+DS Lead who takes overall responsibility for cutting-edge retrieval models. You will bridge various teams across research and engineering and guide them in overcoming any challenges that might arise in real-world scenarios.
• Co-lead culture, vision, strategy and execution while identifying new opportunities for impact.
• Manage strategic partnerships and represent the project to senior Microsoft leadership and external collaborators.
• Drive talent acquisition, attracting top ML talent from academia, industry and startups.
• Optimize GPU infrastructure and advocate for resources at internal committees.Oversee engineering for cutting-edge ML codebases, bridging developers and ML researchers to deliver robust, scalable systems.

What we’re looking for

• Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or related fields.
• 10+ years of deep technical experience in machine learning and/or information retrieval; able to train ML models on very large-scale data and apply them to real-world scenarios.
• 3+ years of experience in technical engineering leadership, guiding multiple teams in delivering complex ML/IR systems.
• Proven ability to engage with engineering teams, understand architectures and map research to engineering needs.
• Exceptional communication skills; comfortable with senior executives and external partners.
• Startup-like agility, independence, and a drive for impact and quality.

Ability to influence peers and seniors and guide teams not reporting to you; deliver success as a lead individual contributor rather than as a manager/organizational leader.

Preferred:

• Detailed knowledge of the transformer architecture, attention and dual/cross encoders including low-level implementation details of training and inference.
• Experience with large-scale retrieval (RAG, LLM/SLM architectures, distributed systems, and GPU optimization).
• Proven track record of training ML models and delivering significant product impact.
• Track record in building strategic partnerships and recruiting ML talent.

Ready to make an impact? Apply now using the link above and by sending an e-mail to the MSRI AIML Hiring Committee<msrimlrec@microsoft.com> and help shape the future of retrieval at Microsoft!

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.