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TikTok · 2 weeks ago

Machine Learning Engineer Intern - TikTok Search Local Services team - 2026 Summer (BS/MS)

United States

Internship

Remote

Intern

$45/hr - $60/hr

Start in 2026 Summer

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video, and they are seeking a Machine Learning Engineer Intern for their Data-Search-TikTok-Local Services team for Summer 2026. The role involves enhancing local services by improving user discovery through large-scale machine learning, focusing on search and recommendation systems.

Content CreatorsContent DiscoveryMedia and EntertainmentSocial MediaVideo

H1B Sponsor Likely

Responsibilities

Participate in the improvement of the search core algorithm, possible directions include:

Large Language Model Application: Building AI search for local service needs by deploying and posttraining LLMs, constructing robust and comprehensive RAGs

Content understanding/matching: Applying the industry's cutting-edge LLM technology to match the most relevant videos for each search query, and continuously improve the understanding of queries and relevance of TikTok search

User Behavior Modeling: solving the recommendation problem in search, letting TikTok search increase the ability of personalization on the basis of 'relevant', and understand users better

Qualification

PythonLLM deploymentNatural Language ProcessingSoftware EngineeringProblem-solving

Required

Currently pursuing a Bachelor/Master/PhD in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline

Able to commit to working for 12 weeks during Summer 2026

Experience with coding in Python, Java, Golang, C#, or C++

Experience deploying, training LLMs or building LLM powered applications

Must obtain work authorization in the country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment

Preferred

Graduating December 2026 onwards with intent to return to degree-program after the completion of the internship

Experience deploying, training LLMs or building LLM powered applications

Demonstrated software engineering or natural language processing, deep learning experience from previous internship, work experience, coding competitions, or publications

High levels of creativity and quick problem-solving capabilities

Benefits

Day one access to health insurance

Life insurance

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 of year)

Housing allowance

Company

TikTok

Glassdoor3.4

TikTok is a short-form video entertainment app and social network platform. It is a sub-organization of ByteDance.

Founded in 2003

Los Angeles, California, USA

10001+ employees

https://www.tiktok.com

H1B Sponsorship

TikTok has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)

Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship

Represents job field similar to this job

Trends of Total Sponsorships

2025 (979)

2024 (601)

2023 (387)

2022 (322)

2021 (133)

2020 (72)