Machine Learning Engineer - TikTok Content Ecology

At TikTok, we create together and grow together. That's how we drive impact - for ourselves, our company, and the communities we serve.
Join us.

TikTok Content Ecology Algorithm Team leverages multimodal, LLM/MLLM, NLP & CV, and recommendation technologies to provide platform-level algorithmic capabilities for various business lines, including local services, search, main architecture, PGC (Professionally Generated Content), and UG (User Growth).
Our work spans short video content understanding, global trending event detection, intelligent customer service, and inspiration recommendation.
There are over a hundred languages here, presenting multilingual challenges for NLP/LLM technologies.
With a vast amount of short video content, MLLM and multimodal technologies have more application scenarios. The platform has a large user base, with hundreds of millions of creators, providing rich application scenarios for inspiration recommendation technologies.
All business lines are in a period of rapid growth, with overall DAU and revenue increasing rapidly, offering vast development opportunities.
Welcome to join us！

About the Team
The Content Ecology Algorithm Team drives TikTok's AI innovations in LLMs, NLP, Computer Vision (CV), multimodal learning, and recommendation algorithms. We develop cutting-edge AI capabilities that power multiple business lines, including Local Services, Search, Core Video Architecture, Professional Content (PGC), and User Growth (UG).
Our work includes:
- Short Video Content Understanding - Building multimodal AI models to analyze video, text, and speech.
- Global Trending Event Detection - Developing real-time AI systems to detect viral trends worldwide.
- Intelligent Customer Service - Implementing chatbot and automation solutions using LLMs.
- AI-Driven Content Discovery - Enhancing personalized content recommendations through advanced algorithms.
With millions of daily users, our work directly impacts TikTok's growth and user engagement.

Responsibilities
- Develop and optimize LLM, NLP, CV, and recommendation models to improve TikTok's content ecosystem.
- Implement multimodal AI solutions, integrating video, text, and speech understanding.
- Optimize LLM-powered search, discovery, and content recommendation systems for better user engagement.
- Train and fine-tune deep learning models using TensorFlow, PyTorch, or other ML frameworks.
- Deploy and scale machine learning solutions in a distributed computing environment.
- Work closely with AI researchers, software engineers, and business teams to apply AI technologies effectively.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
- Strong programming skills in Python, C++, or similar languages.
- Hands-on experience with deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
- Solid understanding of machine learning, NLP, CV, or recommendation algorithms.

Preferred Qualifications:
- Ph.D. or Master's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or a related field, OR a Bachelor's degree with exceptional research or industry experience.
- 2+ years of research or industry experience in LLMs (GPT-style models), multimodal learning, or large-scale ML systems.
- Experience with distributed computing and optimizing AI models for real-world applications.
- Ability to apply machine learning techniques to enhance business and user experiences.
- Publications in top AI/ML conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, ACL, etc.) or strong contributions to open-source AI projects.

TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.

TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at https://shorturl.at/cdpT2

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $145000 - $250000 annually.

Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.

Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).

The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:

1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;

2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and

3. Exercising sound judgment.