Principal Product Manager, Foundational AI Research

Microsoft • Full-time • California, United States • $139.90k - $304.20k / year • 1m ago

Overview

At Microsoft AI, we are on a mission to train the world’s most capable AI frontier models, pushing the boundaries of scale, performance, and product deployment. We’re tackling some of the most challenging problems in deep learning at scale. As a team, we will deliver one of the best foundation models in the world and use it to solve real world problems.

Our team is led by Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI. Our research team includes some of the brightest minds in the field, responsible for developing many of today’s most influential LLM models. Notably, MAI has launched MAI-1 models, including MAI-1-image debuting in top 10 in LMarena.

As a Principal Product Manager, Foundational Research, you will be advancing the next generation of LLM models working on either (1) pre-training and post-training data and evaluations, (2) training infrastructure, or (3) API and Platform. You will be responsible for working backward from customer needs to prioritize new research, build evals and datasets, and work closely with AI researchers to build and execute project plans.

In particular, we are looking for candidates who:

Have built data collection or evaluation pipelines for pre-training or post-training AI models
Have experience in working side-by-side with ML researchers or ML infrastructure teams to build large scale ML / AI models
Take the initiative and enjoys finding paths through complexity in a fast-paced environment, innovative environment
Are passionate about managing high stakes time-sensitive large-scale goals, and drive to relentlessly unblock progress
Demonstrate a proactive attitude and enthusiasm for exploring new methods and are familiar with research and technical advancement in their area
Have worked backwards from customer needs to deliver robust, scalable solutions that empower developers and enterprise customers.

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.

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.

Responsibilities

Identify and prioritize language / coding / multimodal issues and work with researchers to find a path to resolution.
Create novel data collection tasks for taskers to evaluate models and to collect training data for fine-tuning.
Create model prototypes to prove out new feature directions and scope projects.
Collaborate closely with teams on infrastructure, data engineering, pre-training, post-training, and product feedback
Foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and growth.
Advance the AI frontier responsibly

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree AND 8+ years experience in product/service/program management or software development OR equivalent experience.
2+ years direct, hands-on collaboration with model researchers and ML engineers in areas such as training runs, data evaluation, infrastructure, coding, or safety.
Experience building and shipping data pipelines or evaluation systems personally.

Preferred Qualifications

A technical postgraduate degree is strongly preferred; a PhD is ideal but not mandatory.
Demonstrated ability to bring enterprise or developer products to market by deeply engaging with end customers.

Product Management 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

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.

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