(General Hire) Research Scientist Graduate (TikTok Recommendation-Next

Responsibilities

At TikTok, we are building the next-generation recommendation systems to deliver highly personalized and engaging content to billions of users worldwide. The TikTok Recommendation team pioneers cutting-edge technologies by harnessing the power of large-scale models and massive user data to drive breakthrough innovations in accuracy, scalability, and user experience. As a PhD new graduate, you will join a fast-paced, research-inspired engineering team focused on applying large model technologies to real-world recommendation scenarios. Through our General Hire track, you'll have the opportunity to explore multiple research and engineering directions across teams including but not limited to: - Generative Recall - Large Generative Reranking Models - Agentic AI - MLLM Pre-training & Post-training - VLM + LLM for Cold Start - Lifelong Sequence Modeling - LLM Applications for Push & EDM We are looking for talented individuals to join our team in 2026. As a graduate, you will get unparalleled opportunities for you to kickstart your career, pursue bold ideas and explore limitless growth opportunities. Co-create a future driven by your inspiration with TikTok. Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by end of year 2026. We will prioritize candidates who are able to commit to these start dates. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage you to apply early. Responsibilities: - Research and develop next-generation recommendation models leveraging LLMs, MLLMs, and generative techniques. - Design and optimize large-scale systems for multimodal content understanding and personalized ranking. - Collaborate with cross-functional teams (infra, PMs, research) to turn prototypes into scalable solutions. - Stay at the forefront of academic advancements and apply SOTA ideas to solve large-scale, real-world recommendation challenges.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications: - Final-year Ph.D. candidate or recent Ph.D. graduate in Computer Science or a related field - Research or applied experience in recommendation systems, LLMs, MLLMs, or multimodal learning - Strong programming skills (Python preferred), with a solid grasp of data structures and system-level thinking - Familiarity with Transformer architectures and large model optimization techniques (e.g., Sparse/Flash/Linear Attention) - Ability to work collaboratively across teams and adapt research into practical production solutions Preferred Qualifications - Publications in top-tier conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI, IJCAI, RecSys, KDD, WWW, or WSDM - Prior internship or project experience in industry-scale ML systems

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency]Compensation Description (Annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $136800 - $359720 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