Research Scientist Intern (TikTok Recommendation-LLMs, RL, GenAI) - 2026 Start (PhD)

TikTok
San Jose
Workplace: OnsiteInternshipFunction: Data Science & Machine LearningEducation: phdSkills: ["Problem-solving"]

Join TikTok’s US Core Recommendation Team as a PhD Intern to develop next-generation recommender systems. You’ll research end-to-end generative recommendation pipelines, model ultra-long user behavior sequences, and integrate LLMs and multimodal data for more effective content discovery. The role includes analyzing large-scale user and content data, and participating in deployment and evaluation to improve recommendation precision, diversity, and engagement.

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FursaFursa
TikTok
TikTok
1 month ago

Research Scientist Intern (TikTok Recommendation-LLMs, RL, GenAI) - 2026 Start (PhD)

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Last checked: 20 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Join TikTok’s US Core Recommendation Team as a PhD Intern to develop next-generation recommender systems. You’ll research end-to-end generative recommendation pipelines, model ultra-long user behavior sequences, and integrate LLMs and multimodal data for more effective content discovery. The role includes analyzing large-scale user and content data, and participating in deployment and evaluation to improve recommendation precision, diversity, and engagement.
Location: San Jose
Workplace: Onsite
Employment Type: Internship · 3 months
Job Function: Data Science & Machine Learning
Seniority: Intern level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Conduct in-depth research and development on generative recommendation systems, ultra-long sequence modeling, LLM/multimodal recommendation integration, and posttraining/RL for recommender quality.
  • •Analyze large-scale user behavior data and content data to generate insights and drive model improvements.
  • •Design and implement innovative algorithms to enhance recommendation performance and accuracy.
  • •Participate in deployment and evaluation of recommendation systems in real-world scenarios.
  • •Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams (infrastructure engineers, PMO, and researchers) to improve recommendation relevance, diversity, and user engagement.

Key Requirements

  • •Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics, or a related field, with focus on recommendation systems, natural language processing, or multimodal learning.
  • •Strong theoretical foundation and hands-on research experience in relevant areas.
  • •Proficiency in Python and familiarity with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
  • •Solid foundation in data structures, algorithms, and analytical and problem-solving skills.
  • •Preferred: first-author publications in top-tier conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ACL, CVPR, KDD) and experience with large-scale ML systems or applied research.
Experience:Recommendation systemsMachine learningGenerative AIReinforcement learningLLMsMultimodal
Education:PhD / Doctorate in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics, or related field
Skills:Problem-solving
Tech Stack:PythonPyTorchTensorFlowLLMsMultimodal dataBandit algorithmsOffline RLPolicy optimization

Company Brief

TikTok
Short-form video platform that lets users create, share, and discover entertainment content through algorithmic recommendations. It also offers advertising and creator tools for brands, influencers, and businesses.
Industry: Digital Media
Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)
Growth: Scaleup
Headquarters: Singapore, Singapore
Founded: 2016
WebsiteLinkedIn