Machine Learning Engineer Intern (Lead Ads) - 2027 Summer

About the role

The Lead Ads team empowers TikTok's global monetization (billion-dollar business) via efficiently delivering lead ads on TikTok. Our mission is to push the boundaries of large-scale ads delivery systems and lead the innovations of TikTok's personalized online advertising. This internship program offers students hands-on experience, industry exposure, and opportunities to apply their knowledge to real-world challenges while building a strong foundation for personal and professional growth. Interns will gain practical experience, explore potential career paths, and participate in social events, learning programs, and development workshops alongside industry professionals.

Responsibilities

• Participate in the development of a large-scale Ads system
• Responsible for relevance model and strategy optimization, such as semantic matching models, active learning, text/photo/video multi-model, ranking strategy, etc.
• Participate in the development and iteration of Ads algorithms by using Machine Learning
• Work on NLP (Natural Language Processing) capability improvement and query understanding, such as query classification, seq2seq, NER (Named Entity Recognition), knowledge graph, bidword optimization, etc.
• Work on CTR/CVR model estimation accuracy, data analysis, modeling, feature engineering
• Research and develop Ads pacing algorithms, ads traffic control, etc.
• Partner with product managers and product strategy & operation team to define product strategy and features

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or above degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• Solid programming skills, including but not limited to: Go, C/C++, Python
• Familiar with basic data structure and algorithms
• Familiar with Linux development environment
• Good analytical thinking capability
• Have essential knowledge and skills in statistics
• Good theoretical grounding in machine and deep learning concepts and techniques (CNN/RNN/LSTM, etc.)
• Familiar with the architecture and implementation of at least one mainstream machine learning programming framework (TensorFlow/PyTorch/MXNet)
• Must be able to commit to a 12-week full-time work period during Summer 2027

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Ads systems, recommendation, searching, ranking, etc.

Pay

The hourly rate for this position is $45.

Benefits

• Day one access to health insurance, life insurance, and wellbeing benefits
• 10 paid holidays per year
• Paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half)
• Eligibility for housing allowance (for interns not working 100% remote)

About TikTok

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

We strive to do great things with great people, leading with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make an impact. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team, embracing an "Always Day 1" mindset to achieve meaningful breakthroughs.