Data Scientist 2
Microsoft
We are Azure Data, a Microsoft team that drives the future of data processing in Microsoft Cloud. Our Belgrade-based team builds advanced, globally deployed data services that power millions of workloads—from small businesses to mission-critical enterprise applications. We are looking for new members for our Data Science team.
If you are passionate about innovation, have rock solid background in applied data science, statistics and programming, then join us in applying machine learning, optimization, and statistical modeling to create self-tuning, autonomous frameworks for Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance. This role focuses on research-backed performance improvements, designing adaptive control systems, and leveraging ML and LLM-based approaches to enable dynamic, context-aware optimization without manual intervention.
If you thrive at the intersection of data science, distributed systems, and cloud-scale engineering, this is your opportunity to make an impact on one of the most widely used database platforms in the world.
Responsibilities
- Innovate in Performance Management: Research and prototype novel optimization techniques for large-scale cloud database systems. Explore cutting-edge algorithms and modeling tools to enhance SQL service performance.
- Diagnose & Resolve Bottlenecks: Analyze system telemetry to identify latency spikes and queue bottlenecks. Design and validate data-driven solutions through benchmarking and simulation.
- Collaborative Implementation: Partner with engineering teams to integrate solutions into production and fine-tune for efficiency at scale.
- Machine Learning for Auto-Tuning: Build ML models to detect anomalies and optimize resource allocation in real time, ensuring continuous performance without manual intervention.
- Autonomous Control Systems: Design adaptive feedback loops using control theory, reinforcement learning and predictive modeling to auto-scale resources and prevent SLO (Service Level Objective) violations.
- Enhance Observability: Expand telemetry and develop tools for incident analysis and root-cause identification.
- Statistical Modeling & Simulation: Apply advanced statistical techniques (e.g., queueing theory, Monte Carlo simulations, Bayesian models, ML (PINN), etc.) to predict system behavior and validate control policies under real-world variability.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics or related technical discipline.
- 3+ years of experience in applied data science.
- Strong understanding of machine learning concepts and statistics
- Basic understanding of distributed systems concepts and software engineering fundamentals
- Proficiency in one or more programming languages: Python, C#, T-SQL, Rust
- Familiarity with Large Language Models (LLMs) and their practical applications. Ability to design context-retrieval pipelines and integrate LLM-based reasoning into performance tuning workflows.
- Growth mindset with passion for innovation and continuous learning.
- Customer-obsessed and data-driven approach to problem-solving.
- Ability to clearly present and communicate data science findings, including visualizations and actionable insights, to technical and non-technical audiences
Preferred Qualifications:
- Demonstrated ability to plan, organize, and execute improvements on complex systems.
- Excellent communication skills in English.
- Leadership skills—formal or informal—are highly valued
- Experience modelling complex distributed systems is a plus.
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.