Research Engineer Jobs at Microsoft with Visa Sponsorship
Research Engineer jobs at Microsoft span AI, systems, and applied science teams, with the company maintaining a strong track record of sponsoring international candidates for this function. If you're targeting a research-focused engineering role, Microsoft is one of the most active sponsors in the technology sector.
Find Research Engineer Jobs at MicrosoftOverview
Showing 5 of 9+ Research Engineer Jobs at Microsoft
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
See all Research Engineer Jobs at Microsoft
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Research Engineer Jobs at Microsoft.
Get Access To All JobsOverview
We are seeking Data Research Engineers to join our Multimodal team, where we are building the next generation of foundation models across vision, language, audio, and beyond. If you are passionate about designing and curating high-quality datasets to power frontier AI models, this role is for you.
Role
In this role, you’ll work at the intersection of data and innovation—collaborating with scientists, engineers, and annotators to curate, analyze, and evaluate diverse multimodal data sources critical to model development. You will lead efforts to:
- Develop novel data collection strategies
- Improve dataset quality and integrity
- Understand data-driven model behaviors
- Align datasets with ethical and societal values
This is a cross-disciplinary, high-impact role ideal for engineers who want to push the boundaries of what AI can learn from data, especially in multimodal contexts.
Microsoft Superintelligence Team
Microsoft Superintelligence team’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. This role is part of Microsoft AI's Superintelligence Team. The MAIST is a startup-like team inside Microsoft AI, created to push the boundaries of AI toward Humanist Superintelligence—ultra-capable systems that remain controllable, safety-aligned, and anchored to human values. Our mission is to create AI that amplifies human potential while ensuring humanity remains firmly in control. We aim to deliver breakthroughs that benefit society—advancing science, education, and global well-being. We’re also fortunate to partner with incredible product teams giving our models the chance to reach billions of users and create immense positive impact. If you’re a brilliant, highly-ambitious and low ego individual, you’ll fit right in—come and join us as we work on our next generation of models! 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
- Create high-quality datasets for training and evaluation; run experiments on new datasets (data ablations) to assess their impact and determine the most effective data.
- Develop and maintain scalable data pipelines for multimodal ingestion, preprocessing, filtering, and annotation.
- Analyze real-world multimodal datasets to assess quality, diversity, relevance, and identify areas for improvement.
- Build lightweight tools and workflows for dataset auditing, visualization, and versioning.
- Collaborate with Safety, Ethics, and Governance teams to ensure datasets meet standards for quality, privacy, and responsible AI practices.
- Embody our culture and values.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in AI, Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or related technical discipline AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python and common data libraries (Pandas, NumPy, etc.) + OR equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's Degree in AI, Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or related technical discipline AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python and common data libraries (Pandas, NumPy, etc.)
- OR Bachelor's Degree in AI, Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or related technical discipline AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python and common data libraries (Pandas, NumPy, etc.)
- OR equivalent experience.
- 2+ years of experience in data analysis or data engineering, including work with large-scale datasets that are unstructured or semi-structured.
- Proficiency in statistics and exploratory data analysis methods.
- Familiarity with data processing frameworks such as Spark, Ray, or Apache Beam.
- Ability to communicate technical findings clearly to research and product teams.
Software Engineering 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 $158,400 - $258,000 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
Software Engineering 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.
Overview
We are seeking Data Research Engineers to join our Multimodal team, where we are building the next generation of foundation models across vision, language, audio, and beyond. If you are passionate about designing and curating high-quality datasets to power frontier AI models, this role is for you.
Role
In this role, you’ll work at the intersection of data and innovation—collaborating with scientists, engineers, and annotators to curate, analyze, and evaluate diverse multimodal data sources critical to model development. You will lead efforts to:
- Develop novel data collection strategies
- Improve dataset quality and integrity
- Understand data-driven model behaviors
- Align datasets with ethical and societal values
This is a cross-disciplinary, high-impact role ideal for engineers who want to push the boundaries of what AI can learn from data, especially in multimodal contexts.
Microsoft Superintelligence Team
Microsoft Superintelligence team’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. This role is part of Microsoft AI's Superintelligence Team. The MAIST is a startup-like team inside Microsoft AI, created to push the boundaries of AI toward Humanist Superintelligence—ultra-capable systems that remain controllable, safety-aligned, and anchored to human values. Our mission is to create AI that amplifies human potential while ensuring humanity remains firmly in control. We aim to deliver breakthroughs that benefit society—advancing science, education, and global well-being. We’re also fortunate to partner with incredible product teams giving our models the chance to reach billions of users and create immense positive impact. If you’re a brilliant, highly-ambitious and low ego individual, you’ll fit right in—come and join us as we work on our next generation of models! 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
- Create high-quality datasets for training and evaluation; run experiments on new datasets (data ablations) to assess their impact and determine the most effective data.
- Develop and maintain scalable data pipelines for multimodal ingestion, preprocessing, filtering, and annotation.
- Analyze real-world multimodal datasets to assess quality, diversity, relevance, and identify areas for improvement.
- Build lightweight tools and workflows for dataset auditing, visualization, and versioning.
- Collaborate with Safety, Ethics, and Governance teams to ensure datasets meet standards for quality, privacy, and responsible AI practices.
- Embody our culture and values.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in AI, Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or related technical discipline AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python and common data libraries (Pandas, NumPy, etc.) + OR equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's Degree in AI, Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or related technical discipline AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python and common data libraries (Pandas, NumPy, etc.)
- OR Bachelor's Degree in AI, Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or related technical discipline AND 12+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, Python and common data libraries (Pandas, NumPy, etc.)
- OR equivalent experience.
- 2+ years of experience in data analysis or data engineering, including work with large-scale datasets that are unstructured or semi-structured.
- Proficiency in statistics and exploratory data analysis methods.
- Familiarity with data processing frameworks such as Spark, Ray, or Apache Beam.
- Ability to communicate technical findings clearly to research and product teams.
Software Engineering 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 $158,400 - $258,000 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
Software Engineering 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.
See all Research Engineer Jobs at Microsoft
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Research Engineer Jobs at Microsoft.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Research Engineer Jobs at Microsoft
Align your publications to Microsoft's research areas
Microsoft Research publishes openly across AI, systems, and human-computer interaction. Reviewing recent papers from MSR labs and framing your own research output to match their active directions signals genuine fit before you ever apply.
Target teams with active PhD hiring pipelines
Microsoft Research and product teams like Azure AI and Microsoft Fabric recruit Research Engineers heavily through PhD internship conversions. If you're finishing a doctorate, applying for a research internship first is the most direct path to a full-time sponsored offer.
Verify your visa category before accepting an offer
Microsoft sponsors H-1B, E-3, and H-1B1 visas depending on your nationality and role classification. Confirm which category applies to your situation early in the offer stage so your start date accounts for the correct USCIS or consular processing timeline.
Use Migrate Mate to find open Research Engineer roles at Microsoft
Research Engineer openings at Microsoft move quickly and aren't always easy to track across team-specific pages. Migrate Mate filters these roles by visa sponsorship eligibility, so you can identify and apply to active positions without sorting through roles that don't sponsor.
Prepare for a technical research presentation in interviews
Microsoft's Research Engineer loop typically includes a research talk or deep technical discussion of your prior work. Prepare a 20-to-30-minute presentation on your most relevant project, focused on problem framing, methodology, and practical impact rather than raw academic novelty.
Understand the LCA filing step before your start date
Before Microsoft can file your H-1B petition with USCIS, the Department of Labor must certify a Labor Condition Application for your role and work location. This step happens after you accept an offer, and delays there can push back your start date by two to four weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Microsoft sponsor H-1B visas for Research Engineers?
Yes, Microsoft sponsors H-1B visas for Research Engineer roles. The company participates in the annual H-1B lottery each April, and Research Engineers are among the qualifying specialty occupation roles. If you're selected in the lottery, USCIS processing typically runs three to five months for regular processing or two to three weeks with premium processing.
Which visa types does Microsoft commonly use for Research Engineers?
Microsoft sponsors H-1B visas for most international Research Engineers, and also files H-1B1 visa petitions for Chilean and Singaporean nationals and E-3 visa petitions for Australian citizens. These alternatives to the H-1B cap-subject lottery can be significantly faster to obtain and are worth confirming with your Microsoft recruiter early in the process if you qualify.
What qualifications does Microsoft expect for Research Engineer roles?
Most Research Engineer positions at Microsoft expect a master's or PhD in computer science, electrical engineering, or a closely related field, along with a portfolio of published or applied research. For H-1B sponsorship, your degree must align with the specialty occupation standard under USCIS guidelines, meaning the field of study needs to directly correspond to the engineering role being filled.
How do I apply for Research Engineer jobs at Microsoft?
You can find Research Engineer openings through Migrate Mate, which filters roles at Microsoft by visa sponsorship eligibility. Applications go through Microsoft's careers portal, where you'll submit a resume and optionally a research statement or publications list. Research-track roles often route through specific team recruiters, so identifying the right team before applying improves your chances of getting a timely response.
How do I understand the timeline between an offer and my start date at Microsoft?
Once you receive an offer, Microsoft's immigration team initiates the visa process, starting with a DOL Labor Condition Application before any USCIS filing. For H-1B transfers from another employer, you can start on the receipt notice. For new H-1B cap filings, the earliest start date is October 1 of the fiscal year following selection, so plan your transition accordingly.