About the role#
The E-commerce Recommendation and Marketing Algorithm team builds the systems that help users discover products and improve the shopping experience. As an intern, you will contribute to core research and engineering projects that influence how our platform grows and functions. You will work directly on production-level algorithms and data systems.
What you'll do#
- Optimize TikTok e-commerce growth and marketing algorithms, focusing on user value modeling and personalized messaging.
- Build a user lifecycle data system to address business challenges and core user pain points.
- Implement technical solutions for growth engines, including recommendation handling and personalized notifications, to increase platform usage.
- Improve recall and sorting algorithms for new user recommendations to increase the relevance and diversity of content.
- Apply uplift models and operations research methods to enhance intelligent marketing and drive e-commerce growth.
What you'll need#
- Current enrollment in a PhD program for Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related field.
- Strong fundamentals in machine learning and engineering, including a deep understanding of the underlying mathematics.
- Ability to write clean, efficient, and reproducible code with a command of data structures and algorithms.
- Research or engineering experience in at least one of the following: LLMs, foundation models, NLP, CV, RL, recommendation systems, search, or ads.
- Ability to clearly articulate research choices and trade-offs.
- Enthusiasm for moving frontier methods into production environments.
- Strong skills in problem definition and decomposition.
- Experience in LTV estimation, uplift modeling, sequence modeling, or multi-scenario modeling optimization is preferred.
- Published papers in top AI conferences or journals, or notable results in machine learning competitions, are a plus.
Location & details#
- Location: San Jose, California.
- Modality: On-site.
- Employment: Full-time intern.
- Compensation: $60 per hour.
- Status: Paid position.
- Hiring process: Rolling basis.
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.
