AI Software Engineer Graduate (TikTok-PGC-OGC&Creator Strategy) - 2027 Start - Graduate (TikTok PGC) - 2027 Start

TikTok Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 128,000 - 256,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

401(k) match

Parental leave

Disability coverage

Life insurance

Paid holidays

Job summary

TikTok Inc. is seeking a Backend Engineer for the PGC IAP team in San Jose, CA. You will design and maintain backend services for creator subscriptions, paid drama, and governance, building scalable workflows and ensuring data integrity.

You will collaborate with Product, Data Science, Research, and Safety to translate strategic goals into reliable systems, with a focus on performance and observability in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field.
• Proficiency in at least one backend language such as Go, Java, C++, or Python.
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, networks, OS, and DB fundamentals.
• Familiarity with relational databases and caching technologies (MySQL, Redis) and basic indexing/optimization concepts.
• Strong problem-solving, learning agility, ownership, and teamwork.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain backend services for TikTok PGC IAP products, including subscriptions and governance.
• Build reliable, scalable systems translating product strategy into purchase, entitlement, and financial workflows.
• Collaborate with Product, Data Science, Research, Operations, and Safety teams to meet needs and trade-offs.
• Improve correctness, performance, availability, observability, and data integrity of large-scale systems.
• Contribute to design and implementation, own projects from development to launch, and iterate with data feedback.

Skills

Go

Java

Python

Data structures

Networking basics

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

MySQL

Redis

Distributed systems

Job description

Responsibilities

The TikTok Professionally Generated Content (PGC) team builds the product and platform capabilities that help professional creators grow, create, monetize, and expand their reach. We deepen support for high-value verticals such as music and short drama, enriching the range of content on the platform so users find high-quality, diverse professional work.

Scaling a diverse, sustainable professional content ecosystem across global markets requires building for different content formats and business models, aligning creator incentives with audience value, and upholding copyright and content integrity standards.

You will shape the creator support system and the content ecosystem, raising the quality of what people discover on TikTok.

About the Team

The TikTok Eng-PGC-OGC&Creator Strategy-Subscription&Payment team builds technology that helps TikTok identify, incentivize, and grow high-quality professionally generated content while enabling creators to build sustainable careers on the platform. We develop the strategy and engineering infrastructure that turns creator and platform goals into scalable monetization products, product experiences, and governance solutions.

The team's core business is In-App Purchase (IAP), which covers PGC creator subscriptions and paid short drama. We build the backend systems behind these products, including purchase and entitlement flows, subscription lifecycle management, content unlocking, and revenue settlement, so that creators and content partners can monetize premium content directly with their audiences across global markets. We work at the intersection of large-scale backend engineering, creator strategy, monetization, and trust and safety. You will collaborate closely with Product, Data Science, Research, Design, Operations, and Trust and Safety teams to improve high-quality content supply, creator value, transparency, and the scalability of our creator ecosystem.

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.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain backend services for TikTok PGC In-App Purchase (IAP) products, including PGC creator subscriptions, paid short drama, creator and consumer experience, governance, and payout.
• Build reliable and scalable systems that translate product and creator strategy into configurable purchase, entitlement, subscription, experimentation, governance, and financial workflows.
• Partner with Product, Data Science, Research, Operations, and Trust and Safety teams to understand creator and business needs, evaluate trade-offs, and deliver well-designed technical solutions.
• Improve the correctness, performance, availability, observability, and data integrity of large-scale, data-intensive systems through testing, monitoring, code reviews, and technical documentation.
• Contribute to technical design and implementation, take ownership of projects from development through launch, and use data and feedback to drive ongoing product and system iteration.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Individuals who are completing or have recently completed a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related discipline.
• Proficiency in at least one backend programming language such as Go, Java, C++, or Python;
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, computer networks, operating systems, and database fundamentals.
• Familiarity with relational databases and caching technologies such as MySQL and Redis, including basic indexing and performance optimization concepts.
• Strong problem-solving skills, learning agility, ownership, and the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively in a team environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on software engineering experience through internships, research, open-source contributions, coding competitions, or relevant projects.
• Experience with backend services, distributed systems, microservices, message queues, RPC frameworks, or cloud-native technologies.
• Exposure to high-concurrency or data-intensive systems and an understanding of reliability, observability, and data consistency.
• Experience with AI agents, such as building LLM-based agents, agentic workflows, or agent tooling, is a plus.
• Interest in the creator economy, monetization products, recommendation ecosystems, or trust and safety systems. High levels of curiosity, creativity, and the ability to solve ambiguous problems in a fast-moving environment.
• Experience with Go is a plus

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $128000 - $256000 annually.

Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.

Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).

The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:

1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;

2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and

3. Exercising sound judgment.