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TikTok · 1 day ago

Senior Research Engineer - Foundation Models, Ads Integrity

San Jose, CA

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level

$187K/yr - $360K/yr

5+ years exp

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. The company is seeking a Senior Research Engineer to drive research in Generative AI and foundation models, focusing on building scalable systems for monetization and enhancing user experience.

Content CreatorsContent DiscoveryMedia and EntertainmentSocial MediaVideo

H1B Sponsor Likely

Responsibilities

Drive cutting-edge research in Generative AI and foundation models, leading projects in text generation/translation, multimodal understanding (image/video-to-text), deepfake synthesis/detection, and efficient training/inference for AIGC models. Define technical roadmaps and align with long-term business goals

Architect and deploy AIGC solutions for monetization ecosystems (ads, e-commerce, short video, live streaming), translating research into scalable systems with measurable business impact

Engage and lead a high-performing team of researchers/engineers, fostering innovation in large-scale model development, content understanding, and AI-driven productization

Spearhead cross-functional collaborations with product, engineering, and infrastructure teams to productionize models, ensuring robustness, efficiency, and ethical AI practices

Shape industry-leading research through patents, publications, and open-source contributions, while maintaining a pulse on emerging trends to guide strategic investments

Qualification

AIGC algorithmsNLP expertisePyTorch/JAX proficiencyDistributed trainingModel optimizationTeam engagementTechnical directionLong-term roadmapsAI safety experienceReinforcement learning

Required

PhD or MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related fields with 5+ years of industry research experience (or equivalent)

Deep expertise in AIGC algorithms (LLMs, diffusion models, etc.), with a proven track record of scaling models from research to production

Strong background in either NLP (text generation, RLHF) or multimodal learning (vision-language models)

Proficiency in PyTorch/JAX, distributed training, and inference optimization (e.g., quantization, model compression)

Team engagement experience, with the ability to mentor and collaborate with cross-functional team stakeholders, set technical direction, and align projects with business objectives

Demonstrated ability to design long-term roadmaps, anticipate industry shifts, and make high-impact technical decisions under fast-paced global business settings

Preferred

Publications in top-tier venues (CVPR, ICML, NeurIPS, ACL, etc.) or significant open-source contributions to AIGC

Experience with AI safety, alignment, or adversarial robustness in generative models

Familiarity with reinforcement learning for autonomous agents or large-scale recommender systems

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) savings plan with company match

Paid parental leave

Short-term and long-term disability coverage

Life insurance

Wellbeing benefits

10 paid holidays per year

10 paid sick days per year

17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure)

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)

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Trends of Total Sponsorships

2025 (979)

2024 (601)

2023 (387)

2022 (322)

2021 (133)

2020 (72)