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Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) - 2026 Start (PhD)

TikTok

Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) - 2026 Start (PhD)

TikTok

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.

  • Effective communication skills, self-driven learner, a sense of ownership

  • 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.

  • Preferred Qualifications

  • 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.
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Next Up Tik Tok Client Provided Video 101:20

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Linkhttps://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/LVcpvjZACopied

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  • 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

TikTok

Late Stage

A 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