Principal Applied AI Engineer

Job ID: 200021871Posted: 2026-08-10Location: United States, Washington, RedmondSalary: USD $142,800 - $274,800 per yearEmployment type: Full-TimeWork site: 3 days / week in-officeRole type: Individual ContributorTravel: Less than 25%Profession: Software EngineeringDiscipline: Software EngineeringCompany: MicrosoftOverviewMicrosoft Dynamics 365 powers mission-critical business operations across the globe. Within this ecosystem, the Customer Experience Applications (CX Apps) team delivers Dynamics 365 Sales and Service an AI-native solution enabling organizations to build intelligent, scalable, and omnichannel customer service operations through voice, chat, SMS, and more. As a Principal Applied AI Engineer, you will be a principal technical leader responsible for driving the architecture, design, and implementation of AI-first experiences across the Dynamics 365 Sales and Service platform. This role blends deep AI/ML expertise with modern software engineering excellence, applied at scale to mission-critical enterprise SaaS applications. You will work across boundaries partnering with engineering, product, design, data science, and infrastructure teams to deliver intelligent, secure, and customer-centric solutions. You will influence strategic decisions, guide junior engineers, and contribute directly to production systems used by some of the world’s largest enterprises. We are looking for a results-driven, hands-on technical leader who thrives in fast-paced environments, thinks end-to-end, and brings both a strong systems mindset and deep AI/ML experience to solve enterprise-grade challenges. This is an opportunity to be part of a high-impact, high-visibility product group at Microsoft. You’ll help define how AI reshapes enterprise customer service experiences and build intelligent systems that empower agents, improve customer satisfaction, and transform businesses worldwide. If you’re excited about solving real-world problems with AI, working in a fast-moving, collaborative engineering team, and building durable, customer-centric solutions at scale—we’d love to hear from you. ResponsibilitiesAs a Principal Engineer, you will: Own architecture, strategy, and execution of AI-powered features across Dynamics 365 Sales and Service, ensuring technical alignment with Microsoft’s cloud-scale services and AI platform direction.Design and deliver production-ready AI solutions that leverage large language models (LLMs), natural language understanding, speech, and real-time reasoning to improve agent productivity and customer satisfaction.Lead complex technical initiatives, including AI model integration, platform scalability, reliability, and long-term maintainability.Collaborate deeply with applied scientists, product managers, and UX teams to translate customer needs into intelligent capabilities that deliver measurable business value.Drive engineering rigor across the team by establishing high standards for code quality, observability, testing, MLOps, and secure deployment practices.Mentor engineers across levels, fostering a culture of innovation, inclusivity, and continuous learning.Proactively identify technology gaps, evaluate emerging AI frameworks/tools (including open-source and Azure AI offerings), and champion adoption where appropriate.Act as a technical advisor across the broader organization, contributing to cross-team initiatives and long-term architectural planning. QualificationsRequired Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or PythonOR equivalent experience.2+ years of experience delivering AI/ML-based systems at production scale, ideally including LLMs, transformers, RAG pipelines, or similar architectures.Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams or cross-functional initiatives involving AI systems in cloud environments. 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 theMicrosoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter. Preferred Qualifications: 8+ years of hands-on software engineering experience with deep expertise in languages such as C#, Python, Java, or equivalent.Proven track record of designing and deploying AI-first applications at scale, with deep understanding of performance, privacy, compliance, and operational constraints in enterprise SaaS.Expertise in MLOps/LLMOps, including model versioning, retraining pipelines, A/B testing, monitoring, and rollout strategies.Deep knowledge of cloud platforms (preferably Azure) and experience deploying containerized AI services using Kubernetes, Docker, or similar.Hands-on experience integrating models from Azure AI, OpenAI, HuggingFace, or custom-trained models into scalable application pipelines.Strong architectural and systems thinking—capable of making trade-offs between performance, cost, simplicity, and maintainability.Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence across roles and levels.Experience working in highly regulated or secure environments, including Zero Trust, privacy, and compliance practices.Prior experience working with or building solutions for customer service, CRM, or enterprise productivity scenarios is a strong plus.#BICJobsSoftware Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $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, read more about requesting accommodations.