Machine Learning Engineer Graduate (Short Video Content Understanding/Multimodal Recommendation) - 2026 Start (BS/MS)

TikTok invites applications for a Graduate Machine Learning Engineer focused on multimodal content understanding and short-video recommendation. This 2026 start role emphasizes research, algorithm development, and production deployment, with onboarding expected by the end of 2026 and onsite work in San Jose, CA.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of multimodal algorithms for TikTok’s short‑video platform, exploring how multimodal technologies can enhance recommendations and related use cases to drive key business metrics.
• Carry out state‑of‑the‑art research in multimodal and multimodal large language model technologies, designing advanced algorithms that meet business needs while pursuing technical breakthroughs.
• Oversee deployment and operationalization of models, ensuring stability, scalability, and efficiency in production environments.
• Focus areas include:
  • General AI platform design and development, covering few‑shot and zero‑shot capabilities on MLLMs, AI labeling, auto prompting, active learning, continual pretraining, and reinforcement learning.
  • Integrating content understanding with recommendation systems across user‑generated content ecosystems, addressing cold‑start, user interest exploration, and comment understanding.
  • Applying multimodal techniques to next‑generation recommendation systems, including generative models and end‑to‑end approaches.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in multimodal content understanding, with expertise in large language models (LLMs) and familiarity with current progress in the field.
• Strong technical foundation in at least one major deep learning framework such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Proactive mindset with a strong sense of ownership, excellent communication skills, and the ability to collaborate across teams.
• Candidates who are completing or have recently completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Hands‑on experience deploying content understanding solutions in search, advertising, recommendations, or related domains.

Technologies

• PyTorch
• TensorFlow

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance from day one
• 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 at hire with accruals increasing with tenure

Compensation

Salary range: USD 122,574 – 256,000 per year.

Location

San Jose, California (onsite)

Los Angeles County (Unincorporated) Candidate Notice

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.

• Criminal history may influence certain job duties and could affect the conditional offer of employment.
• Job duties include interacting with internal or external clients and colleagues, handling confidential information including proprietary data and access to information systems, and exercising sound judgment.