Research Scientist - End-to-End Generative Search Technology Based on Pre-Trained Foundation Mo[...]

TikTok; Singapore; On-site; SGD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok is hiring for an AI/ML research role in Singapore. You will join our Search Team to explore next‑generation AI-powered search, integrating foundation models with advanced ranking, multimodal pre-training, and LLM-based agents.

Candidates should hold a PhD in a related field and demonstrate strong ML/DL fundamentals with coding prowess. As part of a fast‑moving group, you will publish, collaborate across disciplines, and contribute to scalable search systems that enhance user experience

Qualifications

• PhD in AI, CS, or related technical discipline required or recently completed.
• Strong coding skills and foundation in ML/DL/LLM; proficient in Python or C/C++.
• Publications at AI conferences (e.g., AAAI, NeurIPS, ACL) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Explore integration of foundation models with ranking algorithms for personalized search.
• Develop end-to-end generative search models using multimodal pre-training.
• Investigate LLM-based agent tech to improve user satisfaction on complex queries.
• Collaborate in a fast-paced team culture focused on innovation and problem solving.

Skills

Python

C/C++

Machine Learning

LLM

Education

PhD in AI/CS/Engineering

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Responsibilities

We are looking for talented individuals to join our team in 2027. As a graduate, you will get opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock limitless growth. Launch your career where inspiration is infinite at our Company.

Responsibilities

We are looking for talented individuals to join our team in 2027. As a graduate, you will get opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock limitless growth. Launch your career where inspiration is infinite at our Company.

Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by end of year 2027. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume.

Team Introduction: Our Search Team is responsible for building and owning our search engine which provides our users the best search experience. On the Search Team, you’ll have the opportunity to build a full-stack search engine system and combine information retrieval technology with modern machine learning methods from related fields such as NLP, Computer Vision, Multimodal, and Recommender Systems. We embrace a culture of self-direction, intellectual curiosity, openness, and problem-solving.

Topic Content: With the rapid advancement of foundation model technology, the field of AI-powered search is encountering new opportunities and challenges. Traditional search technologies have begun to reveal significant limitations when confronted with massive data volumes, multimodal information, and complex multi-turn user needs. It is therefore necessary to leverage foundation models to build next-generation AI search systems, enhancing the intelligence of search systems and optimizing user experience. Specific objectives include:

• Explore the integration of foundation models with ranking algorithms to improve personalized ranking accuracy and user experience.
• Explore end-to-end generative search models based on multimodal pre-training.
• Explore LLM-based agent technology to improve user satisfaction under complex ambiguous queries and multi-turn search scenarios.

Topic Challenges

• Personalized ranking: Traditional ranking algorithms struggle to fully leverage multimodal information, and their limited model complexity fails to meet user demands for precise and personalized search.
• Ultra-large-scale retrieval and ranking: Traditional discriminative cascaded ranking systems cannot meet the efficiency requirements for retrieval and ranking across hundred-billion-scale candidate pools.
• Increasingly complex search needs: User search needs are growing increasingly complex. Traditional search frameworks struggle to accurately understand the semantics of long, complex, and ambiguous queries in multi-turn conversations, resulting in low search result satisfaction.

Topic Value

• Technical value: Break through the bottlenecks of traditional search technology; build a next-generation AI search architecture driven by LLM agents; and address industry challenges including personalized ranking, ultra-large-scale retrieval and ranking, and understanding and fulfilling complex search needs.
• Business value: Significantly improve search user experience and satisfaction, driving improvements in search LT and users' proactive search intent.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Individuals who are completing or recently completed a PhD in AI, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Excellent coding skills and a solid foundation in Machine Learning/Deep Learning/LLM, proficient in C/C++ or Python.

Preferred Qualifications

• Outstanding ability to define, analyze, and solve problems; candidates with publications at AI conferences such as AAAI, NeurIPS, ACL, etc., or in-depth research experience are preferred.
• Strong resilience, excellent communication and teamwork skills; passionate about technology, willing to embrace challenges with the team, and a drive for innovation.

Job Information

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.