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TikTok · 21 hours ago

Machine Learning Engineer Intern - TikTok Search Team - 2026 Start (PhD)

San Jose, CA

Internship

Onsite

Intern

Start in 2026

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. They are seeking a Machine Learning Engineer Intern to join their Search Engineering Team, where the intern will contribute to improving TikTok's search engine through advanced machine learning techniques and algorithms.

Content CreatorsContent DiscoveryMedia and EntertainmentSocial MediaVideo

H1B Sponsor Likely

Responsibilities

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

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

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

Video understanding: comprehensive use of NLP, CV, as well as LLM for better video understanding from the perspective of the video itself and social network, improve authority, credibility, and usefulness of search results

Qualification

NLPMachine LearningSoftware DevelopmentAlgorithm & Data StructuresRecommender SystemSearch EngineEffective CommunicationTeamworkCreativityProblem-Solving

Required

Must be able to commit to a 12-week full-time work

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

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

Proficient coding skills and strong algorithm & data structure basis

Effective communication and teamwork skills

Experience in one or more of the following areas: NLP, Ranking, Ads, search engine, recommender system, distributed system, and machine learning

Preferred

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

Demonstrated software engineering experience from previous internship, work experience, coding competitions, or publications

High levels of creativity and quick problem-solving capabilities

Benefits

Interns have day one access to health insurance

Life insurance

Wellbeing benefits and more

Interns also receive 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)

Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for 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)