Member of Technical Staff, Microsoft Robotics (Human-Robot-AI Interaction)

Overview

Microsoft’s Discovery and Quantum (MDQ) division develops and delivers advanced artificial intelligence (AI), cloud-enabled capabilities, and strategic technologies to help solve the world’s major challenges. From accelerating scientific discovery with advanced AI tools, to pioneering breakthroughs in quantum computing, to advancing robotics and AI capabilities that drive real-world impact, joining MDQ means building the future, partnering with fast-moving innovators, and operating in a high-impact, mission-driven environment.

At Microsoft Robotics within MDQ, we build and deploy technologies that enable people, robots, and AI agents to collaborate and achieve more.

We are building Microsoft’s platform for physical intelligence—an integrated robotics software and AI platform that brings together humans, robots, and agents through robotics AI models, innovative teaming solutions and experiences, physically grounded agentic AI workflows, trustworthy test and evaluation, and real-world customer-focused validation. Built on Microsoft’s core platforms and delivered through and with a global ecosystem of partners and customers, this platform accelerates AI for the physical world and helps robotics solutions move from experimentation to reliable, scaled deployment.

We are hiring a Member of Technical Staff, Microsoft Robotics (Human-Robot-AI Interaction) at the Senior level, to lead the design of human-robot-AI interaction and interfaces across Microsoft’s robotics platform. This role will define how people communicate with, instruct, and collaborate alongside robots and AI agents in shared physical workspaces. The designer, a.k.a. creative technologist, will shape interaction paradigms spanning natural language command interfaces, augmented reality overlays, gesture and spatial input, shared autonomy handoff patterns, and trust calibration mechanisms that help users understand what AI-enhanced robots are doing, why, and when to intervene. This is a foundational role in establishing Microsoft’s design language for physical AI experiences.

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.

#MicrosoftRobotics #MDQ

Responsibilities

• Design end-to-end human-robot interaction (HRI) and human-AI teaming experiences, including natural language task instruction interfaces, shared autonomy control panels, intent and status communication displays, and trust calibration mechanisms.

• Create wireframes, journey maps, user jobs and scenarios, task flows, and personas for diverse users who interact with robots, ranging from factory floor operators and warehouse associates to lab researchers and first responders.

• Develop interaction models for multimodal communication between humans and robots, including voice, gesture, gaze, spatial input (AR/MR), touchscreen and future multi-sensory paradigms, ensuring seamless transitions between modalities.

• Produce visual designs from concept to delivery for robot status communication (e.g., intent signaling, confidence indicators, uncertainty visualization), user-facing explainability surfaces, and collaborative task-handoff interfaces.

• Build and validate interactive prototypes, including mixed-modality and immersive experiences, that demonstrate human-robot-agent collaboration concepts to stakeholders and customers.

• Collaborate with program managers, software engineers, robotics researchers, and AI safety experts to define and iterate on HRI product features, ensuring safety, transparency, and appropriate trust calibration are embedded from the outset.

• Contribute to and lead development of a robotics-specific design system for HRI patterns (e.g., robot communication modalities, autonomy level indicators, handoff protocols, error recovery flows) aligned with Microsoft’s Fluent design language.

• Communicate a compelling, convincing product story about human-robot-agent collaboration to leadership and cross-disciplinary audiences, adjusting narrative depending on the audience.

• Leverage ideation methodologies to lead design solutions for complex HRI products involving many constraints (e.g., real-time responsiveness, safety-critical contexts, diverse user expertise levels, variable robot morphologies).

• Take ownership of interaction design sub-systems from concept to delivery, working closely with hardware engineers to ensure feasibility of physical interaction affordances and advocate for user experience benefits during trade-off discussions.

• Provide guidance to the team, ensuring full understanding of the original design vision for human-robot-AI interaction and linking design decisions to established user research and program goals.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 5+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 4+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).

Other Requirements:

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
  • Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 6+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
• Experience designing human-robot interaction, human-AI teaming, or shared autonomy interfaces for robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, or intelligent physical systems.
• Demonstrated portfolio of multimodal interaction design, including voice, gesture, AR/MR, or spatial computing experiences.
• Familiarity with HRI research concepts such as trust calibration, transparency and explainability in autonomous systems, shared mental models, and human factors in safety-critical operations.
• Experience with 3D prototyping tools (Unity, Unreal Engine, Figma, or equivalent) for spatial and mixed-reality interface concepts.
• Understanding of inclusive design, accessibility standards (WCAG), and designing for diverse user populations with varying levels of technical expertise.
• Published research, patents, or demonstrated thought leadership in human-robot interaction, human-AI collaboration, or physical AI interface design.

Product Design IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800.00 - $234,700.00 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 $160,200.00 - $261,000.00 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.