Member of Technical Staff - Prompt Engineer
at Microsoft
Posted 7 hours ago
No clicks
- Compensation
- $119,800 – $234,700 USD
- City
- San Francisco
- Country
- United States
Currency: $ (USD)
Join Microsoft MAI as a Prompt Engineer to design prompting techniques that enable emotionally intelligent AI companions. You will shape how the AI thinks, responds, and evolves through language, collaborating closely with design and leadership to craft the core user experience. You will create evaluation frameworks to measure AI behavior, teach prompting methods to the team, and research novel prompting approaches with a strong emphasis on user-centricity and ethics.
Empower Every Learner. Shape the Future of Education with Microsoft AI. Hello future teammate! We're on quite the bold mission; we're building an AI companion that's truly empathetic, kind, and equal partners to our users. This isn't an assistant—it's a thoughtful collaborator that grows alongside the people they serve. We believe AI should elevate human potential through genuine connection and mutual understanding.
You'll join our small team as a Prompt Engineer, the architect of these relationships. You'll craft the foundations that enable meaningful human-AI partnerships. You'll shape how our companions think, respond, and evolve through language—if you'll allow slight anthropomorphization, teach them how to be their best selves. You're somewhat of a designer, somewhat of an engineer, and somewhat of a mad scientist. You'll work intimately with the design and leadership team—because this is the product!—you're designing the core of the experience.
This isn't just engineering—it's a profound exploration of what connection can mean in the age of artificial intelligence. No big deal. Just another Tuesday.
What we are looking for
- Chain-of-thought experience: prompting techniques that guide AI systems through reasoning processes
- A novel prompting discovery: a really interesting challenge that you've solved in a creative way
- Scaled implementation: you've shipping prompted systems that work reliably at production scale with diverse user populations
- Evaluation design: you've built robust testing frameworks to measure AI behavior against goals
- User-centric approach: proven understanding of how prompting decisions impact the lived experience of people who interact with AI
- A wonderful writer who loves words, storytelling, or linguistics.
- Effective written communication skills: able to convey complex information clearly, concisely, and effectively for various audiences
- Comfort with ambiguity in an exponentially growing space
By applying to this U.S. Mountain View, CA position, you are required to be local to the San Francisco area and in office 4 days a week.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
- Design & develop prompting techniques for emotional and intellectual use cases
- Establish frameworks for AI companions to navigate complex social and ethical situations with nuance and care
- Create evaluations to measure both technical/practical performance and non-deterministic performance like EQ
- Teach others prompting techniques and ways-of-working to elevate the prompting skill throughout the team
- Research & implement novel prompting techniques
- Embody our culture and values.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 4+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python OR equivalent experience.
Additional or preferred qualifications
- Master'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 Python OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python
- OR equivalent experience.
- 2+ years of experience with large language models
- 2+ years of experience working as a prompt engineer or similar field
- A non-traditional background: philosophy, linguistics, psychology, therapy, or literature.
- An understanding of conversation design or product design.
- Familiarity with both quantitative metrics and qualitative assessment methods.
- Experience with personalization systems that adapt to individual user needs.
- Adversarial prompting experience or conducted some unhinged experiments.
- Ethical experience with demonstrated social impact.
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.
