About the role#
The E-commerce Recommendation Team builds and scales systems to improve the shopping experience for TikTok users. This internship provides hands-on experience with large-scale recommendation challenges. You will work alongside industry professionals, participate in development workshops, and apply academic knowledge to real-world problems.
What you'll do#
- Research generative recommendation systems, including generative retrieval and re-ranking, while optimizing training and inference efficiency on GPUs.
- Use Large Language Models and Reinforcement Learning to improve semantic understanding and address e-commerce challenges like cold starts and user intent.
- Develop agentic architectures that perceive user context to make real-time, personalized adjustments.
- Build algorithms to replace heuristic rule-based systems, focusing on long-term value and user experience to support platform growth.
What you'll need#
- Currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
- A solid foundation in machine learning and deep learning, with project or research experience in LLMs, reinforcement learning, generative models, or information retrieval.
- Proficiency in Python and at least one deep learning framework like PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX.
- Strong problem-solving skills for complex, open-ended research.
- Preferred experience includes work in live commerce, search, ads, or large-scale consumer products.
- Preferred experience with multimodal models, causal inference, multi-task learning, or distributed training optimization.
- Publications in top-tier conferences or achievements in technical competitions are a plus.
Location & details#
- Location: Seattle, Washington, United States
- Term: Summer 2027
- Work Modality: On-site
- Employment: Full-time intern
- Compensation: $42.75 per hour
About TikTok
TikTok operates as an entertainment provider. The company maintains a global presence with offices in cities including Los Angeles, Singapore, New York, London, and Tokyo. It employs over 92,000 people. The organization is privately held.
How to get in at TikTok
Landing an internship at TikTok requires speed because early applicants often get seen before the pile grows. Intern Insider sends an instant alert the moment a role matching your target is published anywhere, so you can apply among the first. This gives you a better chance of your resume being reviewed while the team is still actively filling the position. You should aim to be one of the first people to submit your materials. Reaching out to the right person can also improve your chances of getting a response. Intern Insider surfaces the recruiters behind the company roles so you can contact them directly to ask about the role or a referral. This direct approach often works better than waiting for a response from a general application queue.
