Agent Evaluation & Evolution Researcher Graduate (AML-Ark-US) - 2027 Start (PhD)

ByteDance; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

ByteDance in Seattle is seeking engineers and researchers to join the Applied Machine Learning Ark team. You will help build MaaS platforms for large language models and contribute to end-to-end MaaS solutions across markets.

You will design evaluation systems, run benchmarks, and analyze large-scale logs to drive model improvement, with opportunities to publish and pursue bold ideas within a leading tech company.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science / AI / ML / Data Science required or recently completed.
• Solid foundation in machine learning and deep learning.
• Hands-on experience with LLM-based systems through research or projects.
• Strong Python skills and experience with an ML or agent evaluation framework.
• Demonstrated research or engineering ability through publications or internships.

Responsibilities

• Design evaluation systems for LLM-based agents, covering task success, tool use, reasoning quality, and reliability.
• Build benchmarks and automated judging pipelines, combining rule-based checks, model-based judging, and human review.
• Analyze agent execution traces and user feedback to identify failure patterns and turn them into concrete system improvements.
• Support the closed loop from experience to capability, and work with research, platform, and product teams to bring methods into production.

Skills

Python

ML fundamentals

LLM-based systems

Research experience

Publications

Education

PhD in Computer Science / AI / ML / Data Science

Tools

ML evaluation framework

Agent tooling

Job description

Join us as we work together to inspire creativity and enrich life around the globe.

Location:

Seattle

Team:

Technology

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Code:

A119577A

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Responsibilities

The Applied Machine Learning Ark team combines system engineering and machine learning to develop and operate Large Language Model (LLM) service platforms that offer businesses Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) solutions, serving both large model providers and downstream users. The US team drives the design, development, and operation of MaaS solutions across the US and international markets outside mainland China. We are building full-stack, end-to-end solutions spanning text and multimodal LLM algorithms, LLM training/fine-tuning/inference frameworks, prompt engineering, model alignment, and intelligent agent systems. Beyond model serving, we operate large-scale log analytics pipelines that process massive volumes of invocation logs from text models, multimodal models, and agent systems — extracting usage patterns, quality signals, and actionable insights to inform model improvement, system optimization, and product decisions through continuous, data-driven feedback loops. We are actively seeking talented engineers and researchers specializing in Large Language Models and AI Agent systems to join our dynamic team.We are looking for talented individuals to join our team. As a graduate, you will get opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock limitless growth.Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by the end of the year. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume.

• Design evaluation systems for LLM-based agents, covering task success, tool use, reasoning quality, and reliability.
• Build benchmarks and automated judging pipelines, combining rule-based checks, model-based judging, and human review, etc.
• Analyze agent execution traces and user feedback to identify failure patterns and turn them into concrete system improvements.
• Support the closed loop from experience to capability, and work with research, platform, and product teams to bring methods into production.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Individuals who are completing or has recently completed a PhD's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, or a related field.
• Solid foundation in machine learning and deep learning.
• Hands-on experience with LLM-based systems (e.g., agents, tool calling, retrieval, multi-agent systems) through research, internships, or projects.
• Strong Python skills and experience with a mainstream ML or agent evaluation framework.
• Demonstrated research or engineering ability through publications, substantial projects, internships, or open-source work.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Publications at top-tier ML/NLP venues (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL etc.), especially in agent learning, self-improving/self-evolving/RSI, or agent evaluation.
• Experience with evaluation methodology: metric design, model-based judging, or annotation and statistical analysis, etc.
• Familiarity with LLM post-training, reasoning and planning methods, or continual learning.
• Experience with feedback-driven optimization loops, or with large-scale log and trace analysis.

Job Information

About Us

Founded in 2012, ByteDance's mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. With a suite of more than a dozen products, including TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut and Pico as well as platforms specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, ByteDance has made it easier and more fun for people to connect with, consume, and create content.

Why Join ByteDance

Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance's mission. Our innovative products are 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 enrich life - a mission we work towards every day.

As ByteDancers, 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. 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

ByteDance 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 ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. 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.

Reasonable Accommodation

ByteDance 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 https://tinyurl.com/RA-request