Senior Data Scientist

Overview

Microsoft is a company where passionate innovators come to collaborate, envision what can be, and take their careers further. This is a world of more possibilities, more innovation, more openness, and the sky is the limit of thinking in a cloud-enabled world

We are seeking a Senior Data Scientist to help design, scale, and continuously improve the analytical models that power sales quota setting and incentive programs. This role sits at the intersection of Sales Incentive Design, Data Science, Statistical Modeling, AI, and Business Strategy.

You will own and evolve quota methodologies, validate the data and assumptions behind quota-setting decisions, and partner across Finance, Plan Design, Implementation, Analytics, and business teams to translate complex financial and business objectives into scalable, explainable models.

The role combines strong quantitative and technical depth with an understanding of sales compensation, quota methodologies, forecasting, financial modeling, or sales performance management. You should be equally comfortable analyzing complex datasets, developing models and AI-enabled solutions, and explaining recommendations to business and technical stakeholders.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and we’re dedicated to this mission across every aspect of our company. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their highly qualified contributions each day. Join us and help shape the future of the world.

What Success Looks Like?

Success in this role means delivering quota methodologies that stakeholders can trust, understand, operationalize, and defend. You will connect financial objectives and sales strategy to rigorous quantitative models while continuously improving the underlying data, methodology, and technology.

You will also help modernize how sales incentive and quota decisions are made by applying advanced analytics, automation, machine learning, and AI to improve accuracy, scalability, transparency, and business impact.

Responsibilities

The Senior Data Scientist is responsible for the following

• Own and continuously improve sales quota models and methodologies, ensuring they are accurate, scalable, explainable, and aligned with compensation design and business objectives.
• Translate sales strategy, financial targets, budget assumptions, historical performance, run-rate data, and compensable metrics into executable quota methodologies.
• Validate quota-setting inputs and outputs, including baselines, historical data, assumptions, model logic, and results.
• Proactively identify data-quality issues, unsupported assumptions, model risks, and upstream dependencies that could affect quota accuracy or field outcomes.
• Partner across Finance, Sales Compensation/Plan Design, Implementation, Analytics, Operations, and data-owner teams to align financial objectives with quota methodology and execution.
• Provide quota-model expertise and analytical support to business and field stakeholders, clearly explaining model drivers, assumptions, limitations, tradeoffs, and required actions.
• Apply sound judgment in ambiguous situations by balancing model integrity, financial alignment, operational feasibility, and potential field impact.
• Maintain comprehensive methodology documentation, validation evidence, model assumptions, and operational readiness for annual quota-setting cycles and evolving compensable metrics.

Data Science, Modeling & Statistical Analysis

• Develop statistical, forecasting, optimization, and machine-learning approaches to solve complex sales and business problems.
• Analyze large and complex datasets to identify performance trends, relationships, anomalies, risks, and opportunities.
• Apply techniques such as forecasting, hypothesis testing, experimentation, causal analysis, supervised and unsupervised learning, and optimization where appropriate.
• Assess model performance for both statistical validity and business impact.
• Identify risks involving data quality, bias, variance, methodological limitations, and model assumptions.
• Develop scalable analytical models and partner with engineering and data teams to operationalize solutions.
• Build reproducible analytical workflows using technologies such as Python, R, SQL/T-SQL, KQL, Spark, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Databricks, MLflow, or similar platforms.

AI & LLM Solutions

• Partner with stakeholders to define metrics and evaluation frameworks for AI, large language model (LLM), and agentic solutions.
• Prototype, build, validate, and operationalize AI-enabled applications and analytical tools for internal customers.
• Evaluate and select appropriate models, prompting strategies, data sources, retrieval approaches, and context-engineering techniques for specific business problems.
• Design and optimize retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and other LLM workflows to improve the quality and reliability of AI-generated outputs.
• Continually evaluate model performance and identify opportunities to refine AI systems.
• Leverage tools and platforms such as Azure AI Foundry, Azure Machine Learning, LangChain, GitHub Copilot, or comparable technologies.

Business Partnership & Impact

• Partner with business and technical stakeholders to understand complex business problems and translate them into analytical solutions.
• Develop analytical roadmaps that connect technical investments to measurable business outcomes.
• Present complex quantitative concepts, model assumptions, findings, and recommendations in clear business terms.
• Use storytelling, data visualization, and analytical evidence to influence decisions and drive stakeholder alignment.
• Help stakeholders understand both the capabilities and limitations of models and underlying data.
• Identify opportunities to improve business processes through data, automation, analytics, machine learning, and AI.

Data Quality & Operational Excellence

• Acquire, prepare, and validate datasets required for modeling and business analysis.
• Detect changes in source data, business assumptions, performance patterns, or expected outcomes that could materially affect model results.
• Partner with data owners to improve data integrity, completeness, and reliability.
• Build efficient, readable, maintainable, and extensible analytical code.
• Develop clear technical documentation supporting model validation, knowledge transfer, operational deployment, and ongoing governance.
• Promote appropriate standards for responsible AI, privacy, data quality, and analytical integrity.

Other

Embody our culture and values.

Minimum Qualifications

Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 1+ year(s) data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)

OR Master's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 3+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)

OR Bachelor's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)

OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Doctorate in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 3+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)

OR Master's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 6+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)

OR Bachelor's Degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Economics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or related field AND 8+ years data-science experience (e.g., managing structured and unstructured data, applying statistical techniques and reporting results)

OR equivalent experience.

8+ years of experience in Data Science, Applied Statistics, Quantitative Analytics, Machine Learning, Operations Research, Sales Analytics, or a related quantitative field.

Experience developing complex statistical, forecasting, optimization, or machine-learning models.

Proficient programming and analytical skills using Python, R, SQL, KQL, or comparable languages.

Experience analyzing large datasets and translating quantitative findings into actionable business recommendations.

Demonstrated ability to validate model inputs, assumptions, methodologies, and outputs.

Experience partnering with cross-functional stakeholders across technical and business organizations.

Experience with sales compensation, incentive compensation, quota setting, sales planning, territory planning, sales performance management, or revenue operations.

Experience designing or managing quota allocation, quota methodology, target setting, capacity planning, or sales forecasting models.

Knowledge of compensation-plan mechanics and the relationship between financial targets, performance metrics, quotas, and incentive outcomes.

Experience with financial modeling, forecasting, optimization, or business planning in a large-scale sales organization.

Experience building or operationalizing machine-learning or AI solutions using Azure Machine Learning, Azure Databricks, Spark, MLflow, or similar technologies.

Hands-on experience with LLMs, prompt engineering, RAG, vector databases, context engineering, or agentic AI systems.

Experience developing analytical solutions that operate on an enterprise scale.

Ability to influence senior stakeholders through data-driven recommendations, visualization, and storytelling.

Data Science 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 $160,200 - $261,000 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

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.

Insights from previous hires

Top skills: Algorithms, C++

Common previous titles: Senior Scientist, Software Engineer II, Senior Researcher, Principal Scientist, Analytics, Senior, Senior Consultant, Software Engineer, Senior Research Engineer, Principal Researcher