Principal Product Design Lead – Microsoft AI
At Microsoft AI, we are inventing an AI Companion for everyone – an AI designed with real personality and emotional intelligence that’s always in your corner. Defined by effortless communication, extraordinary capabilities, and a new level of connection and support, we want Copilot to define the next wave of technology. This is a rare opportunity to be a part of a team crafting something that challenges everything we know about software and consumer products.
We’re a small, friendly, fast-moving team, supporting one another to do the best work of our lives, always looking to break new ground with an unshakeable dedication to the user. We are proud of what we build, how we build it, and that our products define the AI era while earning the trust of our users. We run lean, prioritize quality, meaningful innovation and polish, and always root our decisions in research and evidence. We ship regularly, so your work will have real and immediate impact.
Our Core Values:
- Quality: We only deliver category-defining products that delight with their ease of use, guaranteed reliability, and beautiful, coherent design.
- Simplicity: We don’t overcomplicate. Less is more, always.
- Safety & Security: The highest standards of security, safety, and responsibility are non-negotiable across all our business areas.
- Evaluation: We pay close attention to signals and aren’t afraid to change course when data and our experience tells us to. We focus on delivering long-term sustainable value (rather than short-term KPIs).
- Kindness: Kindness is at the heart of our org and how we conduct ourselves. We care for, support, and respect one another, beginning again and learning every day.
We’re on the lookout for a talented and passionate Principal Product Design Lead to help build the next wave of capabilities for our personal AI companion, Copilot. We’re looking for someone who has experience and passion for driving the end-to-end process of setting design vision and execution for innovative zero-to-one consumer products. We need someone with positive energy, empathy, kindness, and effectiveness. This is a player/coach role, where you will set the vision and direction while also crafting high-quality design work at a fast pace.
Our Design Principles:
- Create Magical Moments
- Guide the Journey
- Personality is Pivotal
- Always be Earning Trust
- Sweat the Details
- Be in Service to People
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees, we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.
Note: By applying to this U.S. Mountain View, CA position, you are required to be local to the San Francisco area and in the office 3 days a week.
Responsibilities:
- Ship world-class AI applications that delight consumers with an emphasis on craft, quality, trust, and positive user and societal impact.
- Own a product area and be responsible for understanding user needs and behaviors, defining product requirements, managing end-to-end product development, launches, and iterations.
- Cross-functional communication and dependency management, scoping and scheduling, and collaborating with engineering through to the finish line.
- Set the bar for excellence and quality and hold the team accountable to that standard.
- Enjoy working in a fast-paced, design-driven, product development cycle.
- Translate business goals into strategy, user experience, and technical requirements in collaboration with UX designers and AI model training teams.
- Define goals and performance indicators, set up and oversee experiments, and measure success with data and research.
- Collaborate effectively and communicate clearly with cross-functional teams, including product managers, designers, and engineers, to build exceptional consumer-grade applications.
Qualifications:
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years of experience working in product or service design OR Master’s Degree in a related field AND 6+ years of experience OR equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications:
- A portfolio or work samples demonstrating at least 5 years of experience designing world-class consumer products from vision through launch.
- Proven track record of setting design vision for innovative products requiring bold thinking and risk-taking.
- Ability to break large bodies of work into phased execution plans and lead cross-functional teams from idea to polished implementation.
- High craft in design work; must value craft and translate vision into well-polished design prototypes.
- Proven ability to advocate for design thinking, influence outcomes, discover problems, and tackle them in fast-paced environments.
- Experience diving into research and leveraging qualitative and quantitative signals for design impact.
- Experience prompting LLMs, working with generative AI, or a strong desire to learn.
- Experience in a fast-paced, startup-like environment with the ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing requirements.
- Proven ability to collaborate and contribute to a positive, inclusive work environment, fostering knowledge sharing and growth within the team.
- Optional: Prototype-level engineering experience with JavaScript or Python.
Compensation & Benefits:
The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $137,600 – $267,000 per year. For specific locations like the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the range is USD $180,400 – $294,000 per year.
Additional benefits and compensation information can be found here: Microsoft Corporate Pay
Diversity & Inclusion:
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
