Jobs

Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) - 2026 Start (PhD)
San Jose, CA
·
On-site
·
Full-time
·
1mo ago
Benefits & Perks
•Professional development budget
•Competitive salary and equity package
•401(k) matching
•Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
•Generous paid time off and holidays
•Flexible work arrangements
•Learning
•Equity
•Healthcare
•Flexible Hours
Required Skills
Python
Node.js
JavaScript
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Tik Tok
Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) - 2026 Start (PhD)
3+ months ago• San Jose, CA
Viewed on February 1, 2026
Apply on company site
About Us
Tik Tok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video and our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.
- Size: 5001-10000 employees
- Industry: Entertainment & Gaming, Social Media, Technology
View Company Profile:
Responsibilities:
Our Recommendation Architecture Team is responsible for building up and optimizing the architecture for our recommendation products to provide the most reliable and best experience for our Tik Tok users. Interns are important parts to our team with your fresh ideas and creative thoughts.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship in 2026. Internships at Tik Tok aim to offer students industry exposure and hands-on experience. Turn your ambitions into reality as your inspiration brings infinite opportunities at Tik Tok.
PhD internships at Tik Tok provide students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, and to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies. Our dynamic internship experience blends hands-on learning, enriching community-building and development events, and collaboration with industry experts.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis - we encourage you to apply early. Please state your availability clearly in your resume (Start date, End date).
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- By signing up, you agree to our Responsibilities
- Build and maintain high performance online services for Tik Tok recommendation system to support various types of products, such as For You Feed, E-commerce, Social, etc.
- Build extremely efficient and reliable data pipelines for candidates generation, profile generation, training examples generation, realtime online training, etc;
- Build globalized large-scale recommendation system;
- Design and develop high performance computing frameworks and storage systems.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:
-
Currently pursuing PhD in Computer Science or a related technical discipline
-
Able to commit to working for 12 weeks during Summer 2026
-
Must obtain work authorization in country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment.
-
Experience in programming, included but not limited to, the following programming languages: C, C++, Java or Python.
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Effective communication skills, self-driven learner, a sense of ownership
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Projects or research experienced in at least one area of the following areas: personalized recommendations, search engine, machine learning, distributed storage system, big data frameworks is a plus.
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Preferred Qualifications
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Graduating December 2026 onwards with the intent to return to degree program after the completion of the internship.
By submitting an application for this role, you accept and agree to our global applicant Client-provided location(s): San Jose, CAJob ID: Tik Tok-7533010433386809607Employment Type: INTERNPosted: 2025-08-01T04:36:06Apply on company site
Perks and Benefits
Health and Wellness
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- HSA
- Life Insurance
- Fitness Subsidies
- Short-Term Disability
- Long-Term Disability
- On-Site Gym
- Mental Health Benefits
- Virtual Fitness Classes
Parental Benefits
- Fertility Benefits
- Adoption Assistance Program
- Family Support Resources
Work Flexibility
- Flexible Work Hours
- Hybrid Work Opportunities
Office Life and Perks
- Casual Dress
- Snacks
- Pet-friendly Office
- Happy Hours
- Some Meals Provided
- Company Outings
- On-Site Cafeteria
- Holiday Events
Vacation and Time Off
- Paid Vacation
- Paid Holidays
- Personal/Sick Days
- Leave of Absence
Financial and Retirement
- 401(K) With Company Matching
- Performance Bonus
- Company Equity
Professional Development
- Promote From Within
- Access to Online Courses
- Leadership Training Program
- Associate or Rotational Training Program
- Mentor Program
Diversity and Inclusion
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program
- Employee Resource Groups (ERG)
Company Videos
Hear directly from employees about what it is like to work at Tik Tok.
0 seconds of 2 minutes, 18 seconds Volume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard Shortcuts Enabled Disabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ?Play/PauseSPACEIncrease Volume↑Decrease Volume↓Seek Forward→Seek Backward←Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size-Increase Caption Size+ or =Seek %0-9
Next Up Tik Tok Client Provided Video 101:20
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Linkhttps://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/LVcpvjZACopied
Live00:0002:1802:18
More Videos
- 02:18Working at Tik Tok- Get Ready With Ali01:20Tik Tok Client Provided Video 100:33Client Provided Video 2 - Tik Tok02:07Working at Tik Tok
- Limitless Possibilities01:41Working at Tik Tok
- Women's Community01:31Working at Tik Tok
- Women's Empowerment01:45Working At Tik Tok
- BLXCK01:27Working at Tik Tok
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with BLXCK
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About TikTok

TikTok
Late StageA short-form video entertainment app and social network platform
10,001+
Employees
Los Angeles
Headquarters
$220B
Valuation
Reviews
3.1
3 reviews
Work Life Balance
1.5
Compensation
2.0
Culture
1.2
Career
1.8
Management
1.0
5%
Recommend to a Friend
Pros
Limited positive feedback available
Company size allows for potential opportunities
Technology platform experience
Cons
Mass layoffs and poor handling of terminations
Unprofessional management and HR behavior
Exposure to traumatic content without adequate support
Salary Ranges
52 data points
Junior/L3
Junior/L3 · Anti-Fraud Data Analyst
3 reports
$143,750
total / year
Base
$125,000
Stock
-
Bonus
-
$126,500
$163,300
Interview Experience
4 interviews
Difficulty
3.5
/ 5
Duration
21-35 weeks
Experience
Positive 0%
Neutral 25%
Negative 75%
Interview Process
1
Application Review
2
Recruiter Screen
3
Online Assessment
4
Technical Phone Screen
5
Onsite/Virtual Interviews
6
Team Matching
7
Offer
Common Questions
Coding/Algorithm
System Design
Behavioral/STAR
Technical Knowledge
Data Structures
News & Buzz
25-Year-Old TikTok Star Khaby Lame Sells His Media Company for Nearly $1B - observer.com
Source: observer.com
News
·
5w ago
TikTok users say they're being censored after new owners were announced. The company says it's a tech issue. - Reason Magazine
Source: Reason Magazine
News
·
5w ago
TikTok users can't upload anti-ICE videos. The company blames tech issues
HN
·
5w ago
·
1,490
·
1000
TikTok is investigating why some users can't write 'Epstein' in messages - NPR
Source: NPR
News
·
5w ago