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.

Recommendation algorithm team plays a central role in the company, driving critical product decisions and platform growth.We are the Social Algorithms Team at TikTok, with a core objective of raising the long-term potential of our product through the development of social features. It has already been proven that social engagement is one of the most critical direction for our product's growth.Our team is made up of machine learning researchers and engineers, who support and innovate on production recommendation models and drive product impact . The team is fast-pacing, collaborative and impact-driven.

We are looking for talented MLE engineers and research scientists to join our team in 2025, who are excited about growing their business understanding, building scalable and high-performance models and systems, and partnering across disciplines with global teams, in pursuit of excellence.

Responsibilities
1. Develop an industry-leading recommendation system aimed at enhancing the user social experience on TikTok. This system will help users discover and connect with both old and new friends, fostering a sense of community and enjoyment on the platform.
2. Deliver end-to-end machine learning solution to address critical product challenges;
3. Own the full stack machine learning system and optimize algorithms and infrastructure to improve recommendation performance.
4. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, data scientists, and product engineers, to form and solve problems, refine machine learning algorithms, and communicate results

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
1. PhD or equivalent degree with a background in computer science, machine learning, or similar fields.
2. Good knowledge of theoretical and empirical research in addressing research problems
3. Solid knowledge and experience with at least one popular deep learning framework (e.g., PyTorch,TensorFlow) and familiarity with deep neural network architectures
4. Excellent communication and teamwork skills, and a passion for learning new techniques and tackling challenging problems

Preferred Qualifications:
1. Research experience in one or more of the following fields: applied machine learning, machine learning infrastructure, large-scale recommendation system, market-facing machine learning product.
2. Strong first-author publications record in top AI conferences or journals(e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, EMNLP, NAACL etc.), or simply on arXiv but with large impact
3. Strong track record in AI-related competitions, or participation in public/open-source AI-related projects of high visibility
4. Proficient in C/C++, Python, and shell programming languages, and have a deep understanding of data structure and algorithm design.

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 $137750 - $237500 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.