AI ML Engineering Jobs at Microsoft with Visa Sponsorship
AI ML Engineering jobs at Microsoft span research, product, and infrastructure teams building large-scale models, Azure AI services, and Copilot integrations. Microsoft has a well-established sponsorship process for this function, covering both nonimmigrant work visas and permanent residence pathways for qualified engineers.
Find AI ML Engineering Jobs at MicrosoftOverview
Showing 5 of 11+ AI ML Engineering Jobs at Microsoft
See all AI ML Engineering Jobs at Microsoft
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new AI ML Engineering Jobs at Microsoft.
Get Access To All JobsOverview
Do you enjoy shaping business value at scale with advanced analytics, influencing strategy for Microsoft’s most strategic customers, and setting technical direction that others adopt? Do you thrive as a hands-on technical leader, trusted advisor to senior executives, and mentor for the next generation of Data Scientists?
You’ll turn ambiguous business problems into durable, repeatable data science approaches that improve delivery quality across teams and industries.
The Industry Solutions Delivery (ISD) Engineering & Architecture Group (EAG) is a global consulting and engineering organization that supports Microsoft’s most complex and leading-edge customer engagements. As a Principal Data Scientist you will combine technical knowledge with broad strategic influence across multiple customer engagements, solution areas, and cross-functional teams. You will shape data science strategy across high-impact engagements, define reusable patterns and standards, and partner across engineering, architecture, and business teams to accelerate delivery quality, customer outcomes, and intellectual property (IP) creation grounded in real customer delivery experience.
At Microsoft, our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more guides how we partner with customers to deliver trusted, impactful solutions. With a growth mindset culture, we innovate responsibly and measure success by shared progress across people, teams, and customers. Join us to help shape what great AI and data science delivery looks like across customers, industries, and Microsoft teams.
Responsibilities
Business Understanding and Impact
- Drives alignment between customer business priorities and data science strategy across complex engagements, solution areas, or industry scenarios. Frames ambiguous business problems into scalable data science opportunities and defines approaches that balance time to value, technical feasibility, risk, and long-term maintainability. Makes high-judgment recommendations on solution direction, methodological tradeoffs, and delivery priorities where decisions affect multiple stakeholders, workstreams, or long-term platform choices. Assesses resources, dependencies, risks, assumptions, and constraints across multiple workstreams and uses that judgment to influence direction and prioritization. Uses deep understanding of organizational dynamics, cross-team interdependencies, schedule constraints, and resource tradeoffs to drive action from partners and senior stakeholders. Translates business strategy into data and AI strategies for specific industries and cross-industry functions such as Sales, Marketing, Operations, and data monetization. Leads senior customer conversations to define problems, shape solution direction, and identify reusable patterns that can improve outcomes beyond a single engagement. Raises the bar for others through guidance on standards, decision frameworks, and best practices.
Data Preparation and Understanding
- Defines the data readiness strategy for complex engagements by establishing expectations for data quality, fitness for purpose, lineage, governance, and ongoing maintainability. Guides teams and customers in identifying the data required to achieve business outcomes and highlights material gaps, risks, and tradeoffs early. Establishes repeatable approaches for assessing and improving data usability for modeling, experimentation, and operationalization. Drives conversations with customers and internal stakeholders on data integrity, instrumentation, privacy, compliance, and responsible data use. Proactively identifies changes in data availability, quality, or business context and adjusts technical direction accordingly. Shapes internal best practices for collecting, preparing, and governing data so they can be adopted consistently across engagements.
Modeling and Statistical Analysis
- Defines modeling strategies for ambiguous, high-impact business problems and selects approaches that appropriately balance performance, interpretability, scalability, operational complexity, and risk. Applies deep knowledge across machine learning and statistical methods such as classification, regression, clustering, forecasting, natural language processing, and computer vision, and guides teams on when to use bespoke approaches versus repeatable platform-based solutions. Establishes methodological standards for feature engineering, validation design, regularization, experimentation, optimization, and evaluation, including practices around leakage prevention, bias/variance tradeoffs, robustness, and model limitations. Uses code and experimentation fluently in languages and tools such as Python, R, T-SQL, KQL, and related platforms when depth is needed to resolve high-risk technical questions or unblock delivery. Designs hypotheses and experiments, interprets results with statistical and business rigor, and communicates implications clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders. Defines patterns for productionization, including monitoring, stability, scalability, integration, lifecycle management, and partnership with engineering teams. Builds and promotes reusable reference approaches for model operationalization using Microsoft technologies and established engineering practices. Provides technical leadership to data scientists, engineers, and architects by setting the standard for sound modeling decisions and explaining complex concepts in practical, customer-relevant terms.
Evaluation
- Defines evaluation frameworks that connect model performance, business impact, operational health, and responsible AI requirements. Ensures that success criteria are explicit, measurable, and aligned to customer objectives before and throughout delivery. Establishes launch-readiness, monitoring, and feedback mechanisms that enable teams to assess whether solutions are delivering intended outcomes over time. Guides teams and stakeholders through tradeoffs involving confidence, limitations, fairness, generalizability, and business risk. Creates repeatable evaluation practices that can be applied across engagements to improve consistency, comparability, and decision quality. Presents findings and recommendations to senior customer and Microsoft stakeholders with clarity on impact, uncertainty, and next steps.
Industry and Research Knowledge/Opportunity Identification
- Serves as a recognized technical and domain leader who brings together customer signals, delivery experience, market trends, and advances in AI/data science to shape strategy. Identifies opportunities to create new value across customers, industries, and solution areas by translating emerging needs into reusable approaches, offerings, and delivery priorities. Influences engineering and architecture direction by highlighting patterns, gaps, and opportunities observed across engagements. Creates durable intellectual property such as playbooks, reference architectures, evaluation approaches, and best practices that improve delivery quality at scale. Represents Microsoft through executive customer conversations, conferences, white papers, blog posts, and other thought leadership forums. Drives collaboration across teams to increase reuse, accelerate innovation, and strengthen Microsoft’s point of view in data science and AI delivery.
Coding and Debugging
- Provides principal-level technical leadership in code quality, maintainability, production readiness, and debugging practices for advanced analytics and machine learning systems. Goes deep hands-on when needed to resolve high-risk technical issues, validate architectural choices, or unblock critical delivery milestones. Establishes and promotes engineering patterns for readable, extensible, well-tested code and reliable operationalization across multiple teams and solutions. Guides teams on effective debugging, defect prevention, observability, and root-cause analysis for data and model pipelines. Defines expectations for deployment documentation, knowledge transfer, and operational support so solutions remain understandable and sustainable after delivery. Leverages technical proficiency in scalable engineering and MLOps concepts such as Apache Spark, CI/CD, Docker, Delta Lake, MLflow, Azure Machine Learning, and REST API development and consumption, while helping teams apply these capabilities in ways that improve reuse and long-term supportability.
Business Management
- Partners with customers and Microsoft cross-functional stakeholders to define strategic roadmaps for data science and AI solutions that span multiple initiatives and create measurable business value over time. Influences prioritization, sequencing, and tradeoff decisions by connecting technical choices to business outcomes, delivery risk, and long-term capability needs. Drives adoption of common patterns, governance expectations, and success measures that improve execution across teams. Uses storytelling, visualizations, and principled argumentation to align stakeholders and secure support for high-impact decisions. Reinforces and scales standards related to responsible AI, privacy, bias, and ethics across engagements. Helps capture and operationalize delivery learnings so they become reusable assets for future work.
Customer/Partner Orientation
- Acts as a trusted advisor to customer and Microsoft stakeholders by combining technical depth, business judgment, and clear communication. Builds credibility with senior leaders by helping them understand where data science can create value, what constraints must be addressed, and which tradeoffs matter most. Navigates complex stakeholder environments to align technical, business, and delivery perspectives around practical paths forward. Drives customer adoption by shaping solutions that are interpretable, supportable, and matched to organizational needs rather than only technical ambition. Builds durable trust through transparency about data limitations, model risks, and operational realities. Helps customers make capability decisions that strengthen long-term success, not just immediate project outcomes.
Other
- Embody our culture and values
Qualifications
Required/minimum qualifications
Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR Master's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 7+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR Bachelor's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years data science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR equivalent experience.
Additional or preferred qualifications
Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 8+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR Master's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR Bachelor's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 12+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR equivalent experience.
Data Science 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:
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.
Overview
Do you enjoy shaping business value at scale with advanced analytics, influencing strategy for Microsoft’s most strategic customers, and setting technical direction that others adopt? Do you thrive as a hands-on technical leader, trusted advisor to senior executives, and mentor for the next generation of Data Scientists?
You’ll turn ambiguous business problems into durable, repeatable data science approaches that improve delivery quality across teams and industries.
The Industry Solutions Delivery (ISD) Engineering & Architecture Group (EAG) is a global consulting and engineering organization that supports Microsoft’s most complex and leading-edge customer engagements. As a Principal Data Scientist you will combine technical knowledge with broad strategic influence across multiple customer engagements, solution areas, and cross-functional teams. You will shape data science strategy across high-impact engagements, define reusable patterns and standards, and partner across engineering, architecture, and business teams to accelerate delivery quality, customer outcomes, and intellectual property (IP) creation grounded in real customer delivery experience.
At Microsoft, our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more guides how we partner with customers to deliver trusted, impactful solutions. With a growth mindset culture, we innovate responsibly and measure success by shared progress across people, teams, and customers. Join us to help shape what great AI and data science delivery looks like across customers, industries, and Microsoft teams.
Responsibilities
Business Understanding and Impact
- Drives alignment between customer business priorities and data science strategy across complex engagements, solution areas, or industry scenarios. Frames ambiguous business problems into scalable data science opportunities and defines approaches that balance time to value, technical feasibility, risk, and long-term maintainability. Makes high-judgment recommendations on solution direction, methodological tradeoffs, and delivery priorities where decisions affect multiple stakeholders, workstreams, or long-term platform choices. Assesses resources, dependencies, risks, assumptions, and constraints across multiple workstreams and uses that judgment to influence direction and prioritization. Uses deep understanding of organizational dynamics, cross-team interdependencies, schedule constraints, and resource tradeoffs to drive action from partners and senior stakeholders. Translates business strategy into data and AI strategies for specific industries and cross-industry functions such as Sales, Marketing, Operations, and data monetization. Leads senior customer conversations to define problems, shape solution direction, and identify reusable patterns that can improve outcomes beyond a single engagement. Raises the bar for others through guidance on standards, decision frameworks, and best practices.
Data Preparation and Understanding
- Defines the data readiness strategy for complex engagements by establishing expectations for data quality, fitness for purpose, lineage, governance, and ongoing maintainability. Guides teams and customers in identifying the data required to achieve business outcomes and highlights material gaps, risks, and tradeoffs early. Establishes repeatable approaches for assessing and improving data usability for modeling, experimentation, and operationalization. Drives conversations with customers and internal stakeholders on data integrity, instrumentation, privacy, compliance, and responsible data use. Proactively identifies changes in data availability, quality, or business context and adjusts technical direction accordingly. Shapes internal best practices for collecting, preparing, and governing data so they can be adopted consistently across engagements.
Modeling and Statistical Analysis
- Defines modeling strategies for ambiguous, high-impact business problems and selects approaches that appropriately balance performance, interpretability, scalability, operational complexity, and risk. Applies deep knowledge across machine learning and statistical methods such as classification, regression, clustering, forecasting, natural language processing, and computer vision, and guides teams on when to use bespoke approaches versus repeatable platform-based solutions. Establishes methodological standards for feature engineering, validation design, regularization, experimentation, optimization, and evaluation, including practices around leakage prevention, bias/variance tradeoffs, robustness, and model limitations. Uses code and experimentation fluently in languages and tools such as Python, R, T-SQL, KQL, and related platforms when depth is needed to resolve high-risk technical questions or unblock delivery. Designs hypotheses and experiments, interprets results with statistical and business rigor, and communicates implications clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders. Defines patterns for productionization, including monitoring, stability, scalability, integration, lifecycle management, and partnership with engineering teams. Builds and promotes reusable reference approaches for model operationalization using Microsoft technologies and established engineering practices. Provides technical leadership to data scientists, engineers, and architects by setting the standard for sound modeling decisions and explaining complex concepts in practical, customer-relevant terms.
Evaluation
- Defines evaluation frameworks that connect model performance, business impact, operational health, and responsible AI requirements. Ensures that success criteria are explicit, measurable, and aligned to customer objectives before and throughout delivery. Establishes launch-readiness, monitoring, and feedback mechanisms that enable teams to assess whether solutions are delivering intended outcomes over time. Guides teams and stakeholders through tradeoffs involving confidence, limitations, fairness, generalizability, and business risk. Creates repeatable evaluation practices that can be applied across engagements to improve consistency, comparability, and decision quality. Presents findings and recommendations to senior customer and Microsoft stakeholders with clarity on impact, uncertainty, and next steps.
Industry and Research Knowledge/Opportunity Identification
- Serves as a recognized technical and domain leader who brings together customer signals, delivery experience, market trends, and advances in AI/data science to shape strategy. Identifies opportunities to create new value across customers, industries, and solution areas by translating emerging needs into reusable approaches, offerings, and delivery priorities. Influences engineering and architecture direction by highlighting patterns, gaps, and opportunities observed across engagements. Creates durable intellectual property such as playbooks, reference architectures, evaluation approaches, and best practices that improve delivery quality at scale. Represents Microsoft through executive customer conversations, conferences, white papers, blog posts, and other thought leadership forums. Drives collaboration across teams to increase reuse, accelerate innovation, and strengthen Microsoft’s point of view in data science and AI delivery.
Coding and Debugging
- Provides principal-level technical leadership in code quality, maintainability, production readiness, and debugging practices for advanced analytics and machine learning systems. Goes deep hands-on when needed to resolve high-risk technical issues, validate architectural choices, or unblock critical delivery milestones. Establishes and promotes engineering patterns for readable, extensible, well-tested code and reliable operationalization across multiple teams and solutions. Guides teams on effective debugging, defect prevention, observability, and root-cause analysis for data and model pipelines. Defines expectations for deployment documentation, knowledge transfer, and operational support so solutions remain understandable and sustainable after delivery. Leverages technical proficiency in scalable engineering and MLOps concepts such as Apache Spark, CI/CD, Docker, Delta Lake, MLflow, Azure Machine Learning, and REST API development and consumption, while helping teams apply these capabilities in ways that improve reuse and long-term supportability.
Business Management
- Partners with customers and Microsoft cross-functional stakeholders to define strategic roadmaps for data science and AI solutions that span multiple initiatives and create measurable business value over time. Influences prioritization, sequencing, and tradeoff decisions by connecting technical choices to business outcomes, delivery risk, and long-term capability needs. Drives adoption of common patterns, governance expectations, and success measures that improve execution across teams. Uses storytelling, visualizations, and principled argumentation to align stakeholders and secure support for high-impact decisions. Reinforces and scales standards related to responsible AI, privacy, bias, and ethics across engagements. Helps capture and operationalize delivery learnings so they become reusable assets for future work.
Customer/Partner Orientation
- Acts as a trusted advisor to customer and Microsoft stakeholders by combining technical depth, business judgment, and clear communication. Builds credibility with senior leaders by helping them understand where data science can create value, what constraints must be addressed, and which tradeoffs matter most. Navigates complex stakeholder environments to align technical, business, and delivery perspectives around practical paths forward. Drives customer adoption by shaping solutions that are interpretable, supportable, and matched to organizational needs rather than only technical ambition. Builds durable trust through transparency about data limitations, model risks, and operational realities. Helps customers make capability decisions that strengthen long-term success, not just immediate project outcomes.
Other
- Embody our culture and values
Qualifications
Required/minimum qualifications
Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR Master's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 7+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR Bachelor's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years data science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR equivalent experience.
Additional or preferred qualifications
Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 8+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR Master's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR Bachelor's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 12+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)
OR equivalent experience.
Data Science 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:
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 AI ML Engineering Jobs at Microsoft
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new AI ML Engineering Jobs at Microsoft.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding AI ML Engineering Jobs at Microsoft
Align your credentials to Microsoft's specialty occupation standard
Microsoft's immigration team files H-1B petitions under the specialty occupation standard, so your degree field must directly map to the AI ML Engineering role. A degree in computer science, statistics, or a closely related field strengthens your petition far more than a general engineering background.
Target teams where green card pipelines are active
Microsoft runs PERM labor certification for AI ML engineers on sponsored teams, but not uniformly across all divisions. Roles within Azure AI, Microsoft Research, and Copilot product teams have historically moved engineers into EB-2 and EB-3 pipelines faster than newer or smaller internal groups.
Use Migrate Mate to filter open AI ML Engineering roles by visa type
Not every Microsoft job posting signals sponsorship eligibility upfront. Migrate Mate lets you filter AI ML Engineering openings at Microsoft by the visa types the company actively supports, so you're applying to roles where sponsorship is genuinely on the table.
Prepare for technical interviews before discussing sponsorship
Microsoft's hiring loop for AI ML Engineering runs multiple rounds covering machine learning fundamentals, system design for ML infrastructure, and coding. Recruiters treat sponsorship as an administrative step handled after a hire decision, so your technical performance determines the outcome, not your visa status.
Understand how Microsoft handles H-1B cap timing
If you're not currently in H-1B status, your start date depends on the annual cap lottery. USCIS opens registration in March, with an October 1 start date if selected. Microsoft accounts for this in offer timing, but you and your recruiter need to confirm your current status early in the process.
Get your LCA details confirmed before signing your offer
DOL requires Microsoft to file a Labor Condition Application before your H-1B petition is submitted. Confirm with your Microsoft immigration contact which wage level the LCA will use for your specific role and location, since Level I and Level II designations affect both your petition and your prevailing wage compliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Microsoft sponsor H-1B visas for AI ML Engineers?
Yes, Microsoft sponsors H-1B visas for AI ML Engineering roles. The process involves Microsoft filing a Labor Condition Application with the DOL and then submitting an H-1B petition to USCIS on your behalf. If you're subject to the annual cap, your start date will typically be October 1 following a successful lottery registration in March.
How do I apply for AI ML Engineering jobs at Microsoft?
Applications go through Microsoft's careers portal at careers.microsoft.com. Search for AI, ML, or machine learning engineering roles and apply directly. You can also browse and filter open AI ML Engineering positions at Microsoft by visa sponsorship type on Migrate Mate, which makes it easier to confirm sponsorship eligibility before you invest time in the application process.
Which visa types does Microsoft commonly sponsor for AI ML Engineering roles?
Microsoft sponsors H-1B, E-3 visa (for Australian citizens), and H-1B1 visa (for Chilean and Singaporean nationals) for AI ML Engineering positions. For permanent residence, Microsoft supports EB-2 and EB-3 petitions through PERM labor certification. The pathway offered depends on your nationality, current immigration status, and which team you're joining.
What qualifications does Microsoft expect for AI ML Engineering roles?
Most AI ML Engineering roles at Microsoft require a bachelor's degree at minimum in computer science, mathematics, or a related technical field, with a master's or PhD preferred for research-adjacent positions. Practical experience with large language models, distributed training systems, or ML infrastructure on cloud platforms like Azure is weighted heavily in the hiring loop alongside strong fundamentals in Python, PyTorch, or similar frameworks.
How long does the visa sponsorship process take after receiving a Microsoft offer?
If you're transferring from another H-1B employer, Microsoft can file a cap-exempt petition and you can start relatively quickly, sometimes within weeks. For cap-subject cases, you'll wait for the annual USCIS lottery in March and an October 1 start date. PERM for a Green Card typically begins after you've been employed at Microsoft for a period, and the full process from PERM filing to approval can span one to several years depending on your country of birth.