Machine Learning Engineer Graduate (Search E-Commerce) - 2026 Start (BS/MS)

Responsibilities

The Search E-Commerce team spearheads the development of TikTok's advanced search algorithm, crucial for its booming global e-commerce platform. Utilizing state-of-the-art large-scale machine learning, along with cutting-edge NLP, CV, and multi-modal technologies, we are committed to creating a top-tier search engine. Our goal is to deliver the best e-commerce search experience to over a billion monthly TikTok users worldwide. Our mission is to create a world where "no reasonably priced product is difficult to sell." We are looking for talented individuals to join our team in 2026. As a graduate, you will get opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock limitless growth. Launch your career where inspiration is infinite at TikTok. Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by end of year 2026. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume. Candidates can apply to a maximum of two positions and will be considered for jobs in the order you apply. The application limit is applicable to TikTok and its affiliates' jobs globally. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis - we encourage you to apply early. Candidates who pass resume screening will be invited to participate in TikTok's technical online assessment. Responsibilities: - Improve the basic search quality and user experience: Optimize query analysis and text relevance matching. - Understand e-commerce video content and implement multi-modal matching. Improve users' perception of product authority, and deeply participate in the design and implementation of core search products. - Comprehensively improve the end-to-end shopping experience from browsing to after-sales. - Design and implement the end-to-end ranking system (recall, first stage ranking, final stage ranking and mixed row): Improve users' personalized shopping interests model. - Improve the shopping conversion efficiency for merchandise, video and live stream to promote GMV growth. - Promote the robust development of the ecosystem: From the perspective of the industry and businesses, solve challenging problems such as supply and demand matching, business cold start, and sustainable business growth, etc. - Think, analyze and adjust the evolution of the system to achieve long-term and sustainable growth of GMV.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications: - Individuals who are completing or have recently completed a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline. - Familiar with one or more of the following areas: recommendation systems, machine learning, deep learning, data mining, computer vision, NLP, or multimodal machine learning. - Strong proficiency in Python and/or C/C++, and familiarity with a machine learning framework. Solid knowledge of data structure and algorithms. - Excellent in analysis, modeling and problem-solving, and can see the essence of problems from complex data. - Publication records in journals or conferences will be a plus. Experience winning ACM-ICPC medals will be a plus.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency]Compensation Description (Annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $124717 - $243200 annually.


Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.


Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).


The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.


For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:


Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:


1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;


2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and


3. Exercising sound judgment.


About TikTok

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.


Why Join Us

Inspiring creativity is at the core of TikTok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect - and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we work towards every day.


We strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team. We're resilient and embrace challenges as they come. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.


Diversity & Inclusion


TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.


TikTok Accommodation

TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at