Machine Learning Engineer Intern (Search E-commerce) - 2025 Summer (PhD)

Responsibilities

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 its offices include New York, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. Why Join Us Creation is the core of TikTok's purpose. Our platform is built to help imaginations thrive. This is doubly true of the teams that make TikTok possible. Together, we inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we all believe in and aim towards achieving every day. To us, every challenge, no matter how difficult, is an opportunity; to learn, to innovate, and to grow as one team. Status quo? Never. Courage? Always. At TikTok, we create together and grow together. That's how we drive impact - for ourselves, our company, and the communities we serve. Join us. Team Introduction The Search E-Commerce team is responsible for the search algorithm for TikTok's rapidly growing global e-commerce business. We use state-of-the-art large-scale machine learning technology, the cutting-edge NLP, CV and multi-modal technology to build the industry's top-class search engine to provide the best e-commerce search experience, for more than 1 billion monthly TikTok users around the world. Our mission is to build a world where "there is no hard-to-sell good-priced product in the world". We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship in 2025. Internships at TikTok aim to offer students industry exposure and hands-on experience. Turn your ambitions into reality as your inspiration brings infinite opportunities at TikTok. Internships at TikTok aim to provide students with hands-on experience in developing fundamental skills and exploring potential career paths. A vibrant blend of social events and enriching development workshops will be available for you to explore. Here, you will utilize your knowledge in real-world scenarios while laying a strong foundation for personal and professional growth. This Internship Program runs for 12 weeks beginning in May / June 2025. Successful candidates must be able to commit to one of the following summer internship start dates below : Monday, May 12 Monday, May 19 Tuesday May 27 (Memorial Day May 26) Monday, June 9 Monday, June 23 We will prioritize candidates who are able to commit to these start dates. Please state your availability clearly in your resume (Start date, End date). Candidates can apply to a maximum of two positions and will be considered for jobs in the order you apply. The application limit is applicable to TikTok and its affiliates' jobs globally. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis - we encourage you to apply early. Responsibilities -Improve the basic search quality and user experience : Optimize query analysis and text relevance matching. Understand e-commerce video content and implement multi-modal matching. Improve users' perception of product authority, and deeply participate in the design and implementation of core search products. Comprehensively improve the end-to-end shopping experience from browsing to after-sales. - Design and implement the end-to-end ranking system (recall, first stage ranking, final stage ranking and mixed row) : Improve users' personalized shopping interests model. Improve the shopping conversion efficiency for merchandise, video and live stream to promote GMV growth. - Promote the development of the ecosystem : From the perspective of the industry and businesses, solve challenging problems such as supply and demand matching, business cold start, and sustainable business growth, etc. Think, analyze and adjust the evolution of the system to achieve long-term and sustainable growth of GMV.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications : -Currently pursuing PhD in Computer Science or a related technical discipline -Able to commit to working for 12 weeks during Summer 2025 -Must obtain work authorization in country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment. - Excellent coding skills. Solid knowledge of data structure and algorithms. - Excellent in analysis, modeling and problem-solving, and can see the essence of problems from complex data. - Publication records in top journals or conferences will be a plus. Experience winning ACM-ICPC medals will be a plus. Preferred Qualifications -Graduating December 2025 onwards with the intent to return to degree program after the completion of the internship. 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 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

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency]Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern

The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $60- $60.

Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.

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