Applied Scientist Jobs in Washington
Applied Scientist jobs in Washington are among the most active in the country, concentrated in machine learning, natural language processing, and recommendation systems across the technology, cloud computing, and biotech sectors, with openings from entry-level research roles through principal scientist positions. The bulk of hiring sits in Seattle and Bellevue, with a secondary cluster in Redmond, where Amazon, Microsoft, and the Allen Institute for AI maintain large applied science teams. Demand is especially strong for scientists with expertise in deep learning, large language models, and statistical modeling for production systems. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 158+ Applied Scientist jobs
The CASQ (Copilot, Agents, Search Quality) Search Relevance team is at the forefront of delivering world-class search quality across Microsoft's ecosystem. We are the driving force behind the relevance of results in Copilot Search experiences and serve as the core retrieval layer in the RAG architecture powering Bizchat (CoPilot Chat). Our impact also extends to maintaining high search quality across traditional endpoints like Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint Search. Our team thrives at the intersection of innovation and applied machine learning.
We are looking for a Senior Applied Scientist to help us deliver breakthrough applied machine learning and information retrieval solutions at enterprise scale. This role is a unique opportunity to apply state-of-the-art techniques-including dense retrieval, hybrid search, multilingual large language models (LLMs), RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and transformer-based re-ranking models and agentic search-to solve complex challenges in Copilot-driven enterprise search.
As a Senior Applied Scientist, you'll be responsible for delivering mission-critical innovations that directly improve Copilot experiences such as:
Agentic Search in modern orchestrator architectures
Adapting advanced vector search algorithms (e.g., FAISS, ANN, ScaNN) for enterprise-scale semantic retrieval
Improving classic and neural keyword search quality through deep language understanding
Designing and training relevance models, including LLM fine-tuning and learning-to-rank (LTR) approaches
Building robust evaluation pipelines using offline metrics and online A/B experimentation
Driving cross-org collaboration with platform partners, other applied science teams, and product teams across time zones
Setting vision and directions for agentic search in CoPilot Chat inspired by state-of-the-art and data-driven analysis
This role requires a mix of technical depth, strategic execution, and people management to shape the next generation of AI-powered search experiences.
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.
Responsibilities
Drive end-to-end applied science projects: From ideation and design to implementation, experimentation, and shipping, you will lead high-impact projects that directly improve Copilot Chat, Copilot Search, and BizChat experiences. This includes identifying search and relevance gaps, formulating innovative hypotheses, and delivering scalable solutions.Inspire help to grow a high-performing applied science team: mentor, and empower a team of applied scientists-owning their technical direction, project execution, and career development. You will guide day-to-day work, ensure scientific and engineering rigor, and be accountable for the team's output and impact.
Innovate with scientific rigor: Invent and apply cutting-edge techniques in machine learning, natural language processing, and information retrieval to address real-world challenges at enterprise scale. You will design novel approaches for improving retrieval, ranking, query understanding, and semantic search in Copilot systems.
Document, share, and amplify learnings: Promote a culture of transparency and innovation by capturing experimental results, documenting methodology, and publishing internal learnings. You'll drive knowledge sharing that enables broader impact across the organization.
Translate business goals into scientific strategy: Partner closely with product and business stakeholders to align team efforts with high-priority objectives. You will translate ambiguous product requirements into clear, data-driven, and technically feasible directions.
Collaborate across organizations and time zones: Work cross-functionally with platform engineering teams, peer science orgs, and product managers to ensure alignment, resolve dependencies, and unblock progress. You'll be a key bridge between applied science innovation and product delivery.
Embody our Culture and Values
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
-
Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years related experience (e.g., statistics predictive analytics, research)
- OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
- OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 1+ year(s) related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
- OR equivalent experience.
Other Requirements:
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
Preferred Qualifications:
-
Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 9+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
- OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
- OR equivalent experience.
- 5+ years experience in applied science projects from ideation to production-in high-scale environments such as search, recommendation, or conversational AI.
- 5+ years experience in data analysis at scale, including working with logs, telemetry, and large datasets to uncover behavioral patterns, build evaluation datasets, and derive insights.
- 6+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).
- 2+ years experience presenting at conferences or other events in the outside research/industry community as an invited speaker.
- 5+ years experience conducting research as part of a research program (in academic or industry settings).
- 5+ years experience developing and deploying live production systems, as part of a product team.
- 5+ years experience developing and deploying products or systems at multiple points in the product cycle from ideation to shipping.
- Experience in search and ranking systems, semantic retrieval, and information retrieval at scale.
- Applied experience with state-of-the-art sparse and dense retrieval and ranking techniques.
- Experience with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architectures using LLMs such as OpenAI GPT, T5, or Llama.
- Experience with Fine-tuning or prompt engineering of large-scale language models for query rewriting, summarization, and document reranking.
- Familiarity with hybrid search strategies, learning-to-rank (LTR) frameworks, and evaluation methodologies for IR systems (offline metrics, A/B testing, relevance judgments).
- 5+ years experience in applied science projects from ideation to production-in high-scale environments such as search, recommendation, or conversational AI.
- 5+ years experience in data analysis at scale, including working with logs, telemetry, and large datasets to uncover behavioral patterns, build evaluation datasets, and derive insights.
- 6+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).
- 2+ years experience presenting at conferences or other events in the outside research/industry community as an invited speaker.
- 5+ years experience conducting research as part of a research program (in academic or industry settings).
- 5+ years experience developing and deploying live production systems, as part of a product team.
- 5+ years experience developing and deploying products or systems at multiple points in the product cycle from ideation to shipping.
- Experience in search and ranking systems, semantic retrieval, and information retrieval at scale.
- Applied experience with state-of-the-art sparse and dense retrieval and ranking techniques.
- Experience with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architectures using LLMs such as OpenAI GPT, T5, or Llama.
- Experience with Fine-tuning or prompt engineering of large-scale language models for query rewriting, summarization, and document reranking.
- Familiarity with hybrid search strategies, learning-to-rank (LTR) frameworks, and evaluation methodologies for IR systems (offline metrics, A/B testing, relevance judgments).
#CAP #Copilot
Applied Sciences IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 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 $160,200 - $261,000 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
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.
The CASQ (Copilot, Agents, Search Quality) Search Relevance team is at the forefront of delivering world-class search quality across Microsoft's ecosystem. We are the driving force behind the relevance of results in Copilot Search experiences and serve as the core retrieval layer in the RAG architecture powering Bizchat (CoPilot Chat). Our impact also extends to maintaining high search quality across traditional endpoints like Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint Search. Our team thrives at the intersection of innovation and applied machine learning.
We are looking for a Senior Applied Scientist to help us deliver breakthrough applied machine learning and information retrieval solutions at enterprise scale. This role is a unique opportunity to apply state-of-the-art techniques-including dense retrieval, hybrid search, multilingual large language models (LLMs), RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and transformer-based re-ranking models and agentic search-to solve complex challenges in Copilot-driven enterprise search.
As a Senior Applied Scientist, you'll be responsible for delivering mission-critical innovations that directly improve Copilot experiences such as:
Agentic Search in modern orchestrator architectures
Adapting advanced vector search algorithms (e.g., FAISS, ANN, ScaNN) for enterprise-scale semantic retrieval
Improving classic and neural keyword search quality through deep language understanding
Designing and training relevance models, including LLM fine-tuning and learning-to-rank (LTR) approaches
Building robust evaluation pipelines using offline metrics and online A/B experimentation
Driving cross-org collaboration with platform partners, other applied science teams, and product teams across time zones
Setting vision and directions for agentic search in CoPilot Chat inspired by state-of-the-art and data-driven analysis
This role requires a mix of technical depth, strategic execution, and people management to shape the next generation of AI-powered search experiences.
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.
Responsibilities
Drive end-to-end applied science projects: From ideation and design to implementation, experimentation, and shipping, you will lead high-impact projects that directly improve Copilot Chat, Copilot Search, and BizChat experiences. This includes identifying search and relevance gaps, formulating innovative hypotheses, and delivering scalable solutions.Inspire help to grow a high-performing applied science team: mentor, and empower a team of applied scientists-owning their technical direction, project execution, and career development. You will guide day-to-day work, ensure scientific and engineering rigor, and be accountable for the team's output and impact.
Innovate with scientific rigor: Invent and apply cutting-edge techniques in machine learning, natural language processing, and information retrieval to address real-world challenges at enterprise scale. You will design novel approaches for improving retrieval, ranking, query understanding, and semantic search in Copilot systems.
Document, share, and amplify learnings: Promote a culture of transparency and innovation by capturing experimental results, documenting methodology, and publishing internal learnings. You'll drive knowledge sharing that enables broader impact across the organization.
Translate business goals into scientific strategy: Partner closely with product and business stakeholders to align team efforts with high-priority objectives. You will translate ambiguous product requirements into clear, data-driven, and technically feasible directions.
Collaborate across organizations and time zones: Work cross-functionally with platform engineering teams, peer science orgs, and product managers to ensure alignment, resolve dependencies, and unblock progress. You'll be a key bridge between applied science innovation and product delivery.
Embody our Culture and Values
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
-
Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years related experience (e.g., statistics predictive analytics, research)
- OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
- OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 1+ year(s) related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
- OR equivalent experience.
Other Requirements:
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
Preferred Qualifications:
-
Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 9+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
- OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
- OR equivalent experience.
- 5+ years experience in applied science projects from ideation to production-in high-scale environments such as search, recommendation, or conversational AI.
- 5+ years experience in data analysis at scale, including working with logs, telemetry, and large datasets to uncover behavioral patterns, build evaluation datasets, and derive insights.
- 6+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).
- 2+ years experience presenting at conferences or other events in the outside research/industry community as an invited speaker.
- 5+ years experience conducting research as part of a research program (in academic or industry settings).
- 5+ years experience developing and deploying live production systems, as part of a product team.
- 5+ years experience developing and deploying products or systems at multiple points in the product cycle from ideation to shipping.
- Experience in search and ranking systems, semantic retrieval, and information retrieval at scale.
- Applied experience with state-of-the-art sparse and dense retrieval and ranking techniques.
- Experience with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architectures using LLMs such as OpenAI GPT, T5, or Llama.
- Experience with Fine-tuning or prompt engineering of large-scale language models for query rewriting, summarization, and document reranking.
- Familiarity with hybrid search strategies, learning-to-rank (LTR) frameworks, and evaluation methodologies for IR systems (offline metrics, A/B testing, relevance judgments).
- 5+ years experience in applied science projects from ideation to production-in high-scale environments such as search, recommendation, or conversational AI.
- 5+ years experience in data analysis at scale, including working with logs, telemetry, and large datasets to uncover behavioral patterns, build evaluation datasets, and derive insights.
- 6+ years experience creating publications (e.g., patents, libraries, peer-reviewed academic papers).
- 2+ years experience presenting at conferences or other events in the outside research/industry community as an invited speaker.
- 5+ years experience conducting research as part of a research program (in academic or industry settings).
- 5+ years experience developing and deploying live production systems, as part of a product team.
- 5+ years experience developing and deploying products or systems at multiple points in the product cycle from ideation to shipping.
- Experience in search and ranking systems, semantic retrieval, and information retrieval at scale.
- Applied experience with state-of-the-art sparse and dense retrieval and ranking techniques.
- Experience with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architectures using LLMs such as OpenAI GPT, T5, or Llama.
- Experience with Fine-tuning or prompt engineering of large-scale language models for query rewriting, summarization, and document reranking.
- Familiarity with hybrid search strategies, learning-to-rank (LTR) frameworks, and evaluation methodologies for IR systems (offline metrics, A/B testing, relevance judgments).
#CAP #Copilot
Applied Sciences IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 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 $160,200 - $261,000 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
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.
See All 158+ Applied Scientist Jobs in Washington
Find roles in Washington that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Applied Scientist JobsApplied Scientist Jobs by City in Washington
Where Washington roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Applied Scientist Job Market in Washington
A snapshot from current Washington openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- Amazon101
- Amazon Web Services20
- Microsoft14
- TikTok4
- Meta3
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software15
- Retail9
- E-Commerce & Online Marketplaces8
- Electronics & Hardware2
- Construction & Real Estate2
What Washington Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in applied scientist jobs across Washington.
- Master's or PhD in computer science, statistics, or a related quantitative field
- Proficiency in Python, R, or Scala for building and deploying machine learning models
- Hands-on experience designing and running A/B tests and interpreting causal inference results
- Strong command of deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow
- Ability to work with large-scale distributed data systems including Spark or AWS infrastructure
- Published research or demonstrable record of translating models into shipped product features
Applied Scientist Jobs in Washington: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a applied scientist in Washington?
Applied scientist roles in Washington do not require a state-issued license, but employers consistently expect a graduate degree in computer science, machine learning, statistics, or a closely related field. Most Washington hiring pipelines, especially at major Seattle-area technology companies, treat a master's degree as the floor and a PhD as a differentiator for research-heavy positions. Candidates strengthen their profile by building a portfolio of deployed models or contributing to peer-reviewed work before applying.
How much do applied scientists make in Washington?
Applied scientists in Washington earn a median of about $163,350 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $79,930 for the lowest 10% to over $220,040 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire applied scientists in Washington?
Employers hiring applied scientists in Washington right now include Amazon, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Washington's concentration of major technology headquarters and cloud platform divisions means applied scientist openings here tend to involve production-scale systems and high research impact.
Which Washington cities have the most applied scientist jobs?
Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond have the most applied scientist openings in Washington. Seattle and Bellevue dominate because Amazon and a dense cluster of AI-focused startups are headquartered there, while Redmond draws heavily from Microsoft's research and product divisions, making even smaller suburban areas competitive hiring markets for this role.
Are there remote applied scientist jobs in Washington?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 39% of applied scientist openings tied to Washington are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting how much of the work happens on code, data pipelines, and model experiments rather than on-site equipment. Fully remote availability is highest for roles focused on modeling and analysis rather than those requiring collaboration on physical hardware or embedded systems.
How can I get hired as a applied scientist in Washington with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is an internship or new-graduate program at one of Washington's large technology employers, which run structured applied science internships that convert to full-time offers. Amazon's Science team and Microsoft Research both recruit graduate students directly into rotational or entry-level scientist roles. Candidates without direct experience often transition from data analyst or machine learning engineer positions, using a strong GitHub portfolio of end-to-end model projects and a completed master's thesis to demonstrate applied capability.
Where can I find and apply to applied scientist jobs in Washington?
You can find and apply to applied scientist jobs in Washington on Migrate Mate, which lists current Washington openings across industries and experience levels. Search the listings, find roles that fit your background and target location, and apply directly to each one.
See All 158+ Applied Scientist Jobs in Washington
Find roles in Washington that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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