Research Scientist, Frontier Risk & Alignment, Futures Team (AI)

Location: London, United Kingdom; Mountain View, United States; or New York, United States. Employees living within 50 miles of a U.S. office or 25 miles of a non-U.S. office are expected to work from the designated office at least four days per week.

Salary: USD $119,800–$234,700 per year across the U.S.; USD $160,200–$261,000 per year in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metropolitan area; GBP £74,700–£122,600 per year in the United Kingdom.

Company

Microsoft AI develops frontier AI models and research aimed at advancing capable, controllable, aligned, and human-centered artificial intelligence.

What you will do

• Identify pressing research questions in frontier risk and alignment and lead time-sensitive research with direct industry relevance.
• Produce academic papers, whitepapers, internal memos, blog posts, briefings, and other research deliverables.
• Define normative alignment positions and contribute philosophical grounding to frontier model behaviour.
• Inform technical evaluations, mitigation efforts, frontier governance, model release readiness, and day-to-day AI governance.
• Collaborate with technical model teams, Responsible AI, Public Policy, red teaming, and security.
• Build external research partnerships and represent the organization at frontier risk forums and conferences.

Requirements

• Doctoral degree in a related field, or another advanced degree with equivalent research experience.
• Research experience in frontier AI safety or governance, agentic AI safety, alignment, philosophical and ethical aspects of AI, or institutional preparedness for advanced AI.
• Deep expertise in frontier risk vectors, frameworks, regulation, evaluation, or mitigation pathways.
• Track record of public-facing writing and thought leadership on AI and society, including academic papers, books, journalism, or similar work.
• Sufficient technical understanding of AI and the ability to collaborate with technical stakeholders and inform mitigation efforts.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Nice to have

• Peer-reviewed publications in leading venues.
• Experience with frontier safety governance or research in leading laboratories, think tanks, or academic institutions.
• Experience developing or informing alignment frameworks, model specifications, evaluations, or technical mitigations.
• Research spanning empirical and conceptual work on the future impact of AI.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative environment spanning technical, policy, safety, governance, and security functions.
• Culture centered on respect, integrity, accountability, inclusion, innovation, and a growth mindset.
• Eligible roles may include benefits and additional compensation.
• Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.