Principal Research Manager

Commercial Engineering & AI (CEAI) partners closely with stakeholders to accelerate the transformation of Microsoft Commercial Business into a frontier organization. We bring together AInative engineering, modern platforms, and deep commercial insight to reimagine how work gets done-at scale and with impact. Our mission is to unlock new ways of operating through intelligent systems while creating the conditions for our teams to do the most meaningful work of their careers. If you're excited to build, experiment, and shape the future of commercial execution with AI at the core, we invite you to apply.

As a Principal Research Manager, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of how Microsoft engages and supports its customers. You will drive research strategy and execution, innovate with AI tools, and ensure that our products deliver measurable impact for our users and business. This isn't research in isolation: You'll be embedded in a fast-moving environment where your work directly informs decisions at one of the world's most innovative technology companies. Success in this role requires a strong bias for action-translating insights into decisions quickly, proactively removing blockers, and accelerating progress toward ambitious goals. You will also be responsible for building and managing a high-performing research team, fostering a culture of rigor, growth, and excellence where urgency and ownership are core values.

• Vision and strategy: Define and communicate a compelling vision for research that aligns with Microsoft's broader goals. Translate strategy into actionable plans for your team.
• Research leadership: Define and drive short- and long-term research strategies that inform product direction, identify new opportunities, and deliver value to customers at speed. Champion research perspectives and advocate for the role of research in shaping product outcomes.
• People management and leadership: Attract, hire, and inspire top research talent. Foster an inclusive environment where everyone can do their best work. Provide regular feedback, coaching, clear goals and expectations, and career development opportunities. Invest in the growth of each team member, holding them accountable for high performance, celebrating achievements, and addressing performance issues promptly and constructively. Lead the team through complex, ambiguous, and rapidly evolving situations. Create clarity, generate energy, and deliver results even in uncertain environments.
• Cross-disciplinary collaboration: Partner with design, engineering, product, and business strategy teams to embed research-driven insights into product development. Facilitate collaboration across disciplines, geographies, and organizational boundaries to drive collective goals.
• AI UX innovation: Lead high-priority AI UX research programs, developing frameworks and methodologies for evaluating AI systems and for leveraging them throughout the research process.
• AI-native engineering: Challenge legacy processes and assumptions, and identify new ways of delivering results.
• Community & culture: Amplify research learnings within CEAI, across Microsoft, and externally through presentations, publications, and workshops. Foster a culture of inclusion, curiosity, and continuous learning.

Required/minimum qualifications

Doctorate in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 3+ years user experience research experience and/or product development experience or related experience in research OR Master's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 4+ years user experience research experience and/or product development experience or related experience in research OR Bachelor's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or related field AND 6+ years user experience research and/or product development experience or related experience in research OR equivalent experience.

3+ years people management experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of people management experience, including hiring, coaching, and developing researchers.
• Demonstrated impact in delivering research that has influenced product direction and improved user experiences at scale.
• Experience with foundational and evaluative research methods, including large-scale studies, usability testing, and statistical analysis (R, Python, SQL).
• Strong collaboration and communication skills across disciplines and levels of seniority.
• Understanding of trends in generative AI, AI/ML systems, and responsible AI principles.
• Experience with vibe coding tools and techniques.
• Experience in business applications and enterprise product research.
• Experience leading horizontal initiatives and scaling research impact across multiple teams.
• Experience in model evaluations with a focus on end user experience and success.

UX Research M5 - 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.