(General Hire) Research Scientist Graduate (TikTok Recommendation) - 2027 Start (PhD)

About the role

Our team's mission is to empower generative AI and content understanding in TikTok businesses. We focus on computer vision and natural language processing for both content generation and understanding, working on foundational models such as multi-modality pretraining, multi-modal large language models, image generation, and video generation. As part of the business-side GenAI team, we aim to achieve business metric gains (e.g., recommendation metrics) while producing state-of-the-art research outputs. This role is part of the broader TikTok Recommendation organization, and applications will be evaluated by multiple teams to ensure the best fit based on skills and interests.

Successful candidates must commit to an onboarding date by the end of the year. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume.

Responsibilities

• Conduct development and research on cutting-edge computer vision, NLP, multi-modality, large language models, and generative modeling.
• Follow state-of-the-art progress in relevant fields and transform ideas into production-ready solutions.
• Manage the full lifecycle of model development, from training and deployment to maintenance and business integration.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Completion or near-completion of a PhD in computer science or a related discipline.
• Experience in one or more areas of computer vision, natural language processing, or machine learning.
• Solid knowledge and hands-on experience with at least one major deep learning framework (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, MXNet, Caffe/Caffe2).
• Familiarity with deep neural network architectures such as transformers, SSMs, CNNs, RNNs, or LSTMs.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related field.
• Publications in major AI venues such as SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH Asia, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICML, NeurIPS, or ICLR.

Pay

The base salary range for this position is $156,000 – $387,600 annually. Compensation may vary based on qualifications, skills, experience, and location. Base pay is part of a total compensation package that may include discretionary bonuses, incentives, and restricted stock units.

Benefits

• Day-one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) savings plan with company match.
• Paid parental leave.
• Short-term and long-term disability coverage.
• Life insurance.
• Wellbeing benefits.
• 10 paid holidays per year.
• 10 paid sick days per year.
• 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire, with accruals increasing by tenure).