Security Engineering Project Intern

Job Description

Security Engineering Project Intern | ByteDance

The Tone:
This is an internship at ByteDance, a company dedicated to inspiring creativity and enriching life through a suite of popular products like TikTok and CapCut. The Security Engineering Team plays a crucial role by building robust security services and platforms that protect the company’s users, products, and infrastructure. This intern will contribute to strategic security initiatives, focusing on developing scalable and secure-by-design systems, while gaining first-hand exposure to the entire lifecycle of security products and services. The role involves hands-on learning within a fast-paced environment, providing a glimpse into professional real-world experience and deepening understanding of career interests.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Temporary (minimum 3 months commitment)
• Location: Los Angeles, CA
• Pay: $45–$60 hourly
• Team: Security Engineering Team, working with mentors and cross-functional teams
• Mission: To build and iterate on secure-by-design systems and solutions, protecting ByteDance users, products, and infrastructure, particularly in areas like AI/agent safety and advanced security analytics.
• Tech Stack: Python, Go, C++, Java

What You’ll Actually Do
• Design and Build: Design and build experimental prototypes and production-grade systems in critical areas such as AI/agent safety, AI-powered threat detection, and advanced security analytics.
• Develop Solutions: Transform cutting-edge security ideas into working code, contributing to advanced solutions for frontier challenges.
• Explore and Iterate: Partner with mentors on rapid exploration sprints to frame hypotheses, design experiments, run evaluations, and iterate quickly from concept to early productization.
• Collaborate Cross-functionally: Work closely with product, platform, and research teams to thoroughly understand real-world security requirements.
• Implement High-Impact Solutions: Translate complex requirements into practical and high-impact security solutions that protect ByteDance users and infrastructure.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Currently pursuing an Undergraduate or Postgraduate degree/master’s in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Security, AI, or other STEM disciplines. Candidates must demonstrate a proven grasp of computer science fundamentals, including algorithms, data structures, operating systems, and networking.
• Experience: Demonstrated experience in software development practices, including writing comprehensive automated tests, performing effective code reviews, and debugging issues, ensuring high standards of code quality and reliability.
• Skills: Proficiency in one or more backend programming languages, such as Python, Go, C++, or Java. The ability to apply these skills to develop robust and reliable systems.
• Bonus: Prior internship, work, or significant project experience in specialized security areas like AI/agent safety, model evaluation and red teaming, threat intelligence, security analytics, detection engineering, system hardening, or security automation. A strong personal standard for building software efficiently and effectively, including hands-on experience using AI to accelerate development (e.g., vibe coding). A proactive and self-driven mindset, with proven ability to think critically, break down complex or ambiguous problems, and formulate clear, practical solutions in a timely manner.