Applied Scientist Intern (Recommendation AI Lab) - 2026 Start (PhD)

Responsibilities

• Explore scaling laws for foundation models in recommendation and advertising, and build a foundation model based on unified multimodal semantic modeling.
• Build an intelligent ad placement system optimized for users' Long-Term Value (LTV) and long-term ROAS, achieving an optimal balance between commercial value and user experience.
• Optimize the full-process training and online inference framework for foundation models, balance computing power costs and real-time response performance, and resolve the performance-latency trade-off in real-world deployment.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Modeling experience in one or more of the areas: Ads, Search engine, Recommender System, NLP/CV.
• Have a solid foundation in algorithms related to LLMs, including but not limited to comprehensive learning and practical experience in areas such as single-modal LLM application and deployment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Priority will be given to candidates with research results and extensive practical relevant fields, such as outstanding performance in natural language processing, computer vision, data modeling, or algorithm optimization, etc.
• Excellent programming abilities with a strong command of data structures and fundamental algorithms.
• For traditional coding roles, proficiency in C/C++; for intelligent coding roles, proficiency in Python.
• Strong publications record in top conferences (e.g., ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML, ACL, EMNLP, NACCL, CVPR, ICCV, and ECCV).

About the role

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $60- $60. Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance. The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Job Information 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: Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues; Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and Exercising sound judgment.

About TikTok

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 Accommodation

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://tinyurl.com/RA-request.