Research Software Development Engineer in AI and Machine Learning at Microsoft Research India (Bengaluru)
Job Description
Microsoft Research India is hiring a research software engineer in AI and machine learning in Bengaluru to build research systems with the lab’s scientists, from new models to large-scale ML applications (job 200042242).
At a glance
- Position: Research Software Development Engineer
- Where: Microsoft Research India, Bengaluru (on site)
- Pay: Not stated in the posting
- Type: Full time
- Experience: At least 5 years in industry
- Apply: open until filled (re-checked 13 November 2026)
About the research engineer role at Microsoft Research India
- Build research systems and prototypes with MSR India researchers, taking projects from idea to deployment
- Work on AI/ML projects such as new models, scalable ML architectures, systems support for ML workloads and large-scale applications of ML
- Take on different roles within inter-disciplinary projects spanning AI, NLP, information retrieval, systems and theory
- Work with researchers, engineers and internal and external partners, and own the delivery of project goals
- Mentor and lead interns and other team members
The posting describes Microsoft Research India’s main areas as AI and machine learning, theory, technology and empowerment, and systems. Microsoft says the position stays open for at least five days and applications are accepted on an ongoing basis until it is filled.
Why this role matters
Research engineers make many lab projects possible: they turn a promising paper into a system that can run at scale and be evaluated honestly. At MSR India the role sits inside a lab that publishes widely and ships work to Microsoft products, which makes it a good fit for an experienced ML engineer who wants to be closer to research without doing a PhD first.
What Microsoft is looking for
- A bachelor’s, master’s or PhD in computer science or a related discipline
- At least 5 years of industry experience, with a record of innovation and impactful delivery
- Strong programming and communication skills, and the ability to drive research and development from ideation to deployment
Nice to have
- A good understanding of deep learning, large language models and large-scale ML systems
- Proficiency in Python and PyTorch, with familiarity with CUDA and current agent frameworks
- Experience with data preparation, pre-training, post-training and evaluation of ML models
Pay and location
Microsoft does not state a salary for this role. It is a full-time position at Microsoft Research India in Bengaluru.
How to apply
Apply through the official Microsoft job posting. Microsoft’s posting does not give a closing date, so the role is open until filled; ResearchJobs.in will re-check this listing on 13 November 2026. Check the posting for location and work-authorisation details before you apply.
See all our artificial intelligence jobs, or browse more research jobs on ResearchJobs.in.
Hiring institution: Microsoft
Official advertisement: apply.careers.microsoft.com
How to prepare for this application
- Lead with systems you shipped: describe one ML system you took from prototype to production, with scale, latency and what you would redesign.
- Training pipeline depth: be ready to walk through data preparation, pre-training, post-training and evaluation for a language model.
- GPU basics: revise mixed precision, distributed data and model parallelism, and how to find bottlenecks with a profiler.
- Read MSR India's recent work: pick one project and suggest an engineering improvement you could deliver in your first quarter.
- Coding rounds: expect data structures and system design; practise both. See more industry R&D jobs.
About Microsoft Research India
Microsoft Research India is Microsoft's research lab in Bengaluru, founded in 2005. Its researchers work on AI and machine learning, algorithms and theory, systems and networking, and technology for emerging markets, and the lab runs research fellow and internship programmes for students and recent graduates. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.
