Software Engineer Intern – Ad Systems Machine Learning

Job Description

Machine Learning Engineer Intern (App Ads) – 2026 Fall (BS/MS) | TikTok

The Tone:
This is an internship at TikTok, a global company with headquarters in Los Angeles and Singapore and offices worldwide, known as the leading destination for short-form mobile video. TikTok’s mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. This role is crucial within the App Ads and Gaming team, which drives TikTok’s billion-dollar global monetization by delivering application ads effectively. The intern will contribute to pushing the boundaries of large-scale ad delivery systems and advancing personalized online advertising.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Full-time
• Location: In-person, various global offices (e.g., Los Angeles)
• Pay: $45–$60 hourly
• Team: App Ads and Gaming team, part of the Global Monetization Product and Technology organization
• Mission: Empower TikTok’s global monetization by efficiently delivering application ads and innovating personalized online advertising.
• Tech Stack: Go, C/C++, Python, Tensorflow/PyTorch/MXNet

What You’ll Actually Do
• System Development: Participate in the development of a large-scale Ads system.
• Machine Learning Projects: Be responsible for the development of state-of-the-art applied machine learning projects.
• Strategy Ownership: Own key targeting components or strategies within the TikTok ads monetization ecosystem.
• Product Collaboration: Work with product and business teams to define the product vision.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Currently pursuing an Undergraduate or Master’s degree in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Candidates should have a good theoretical grounding in machine learning concepts and techniques.
• Experience: Ability to commit to a 12-week full-time work period during Summer or Fall 2026.
• Skills: Excellent programming, debugging, and optimization skills in one or more general-purpose programming languages such as Go, C/C++, or Python. Experience in one or more machine learning frameworks like Tensorflow, PyTorch, or MXNet is required. Candidates must possess the ability to think critically and formulate clear, concise solutions to problems.
• Bonus: Familiarity with Ads systems, recommendation engines, searching technologies, or ranking algorithms.