PhD Intern – Recommendation Algorithms

Job Description

Research Scientist Intern (TikTok Recommendation) – 2026 Start (PhD) | TikTok

The Tone:
This is a PhD internship at TikTok, located in a US-based location with potential for Los Angeles, CA. TikTok is a global platform that inspires creativity and brings joy through short-form mobile video. This role is central to driving critical product decisions and platform growth by innovating on recommendation models. This internship provides students an opportunity to contribute to products, research, and emerging technologies, while engaging in hands-on learning and collaborating with industry experts.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Location: In-person, US-based (potential for Los Angeles, CA)
• Pay: $60 hourly
• Team: Recommendation algorithm team within the TikTok Recommendation organization
• Mission: Improve user experience, content ecosystem, and platform security by building industry-leading recommendation systems.
• Tech Stack: C++, Python, PyTorch, Tensorflow

What You’ll Actually Do
• Build: Create industry-leading recommendation systems to enhance user experience, content ecosystem, and platform security.
• Deliver: Provide end-to-end machine learning solutions that address critical product challenges.
• Optimize: Own the full stack machine learning system and refine algorithms and infrastructure to improve recommendation performance.
• Collaborate: Partner with cross-functional teams to design product strategies and develop solutions for TikTok’s growth in important markets.

The Must-Haves
• Background: PhD degree in computer science or a related technical discipline; current student status.
• Experience: Familiarity with at least one Deep Learning framework (e.g., PyTorch, Tensorflow); experience in one or more of NLP, CV, Recommender System, or Machine Learning.
• Skills: Proficient coding skills and strong algorithm and data structure knowledge using C++, Python, or other programming languages; effective communication and teamwork skills.
• Bonus: Authorship of published papers in accredited academia conferences; winners of algorithm and machine learning competitions such as ACM and Kaggle.