Global Frontier Tech Recruitment Program - Intern San Jose

ByteDance; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 121,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Housing allowance

10 paid holidays per year

Job summary

ByteDance seeks PhD candidates for an Intelligent Sensing Intern role in San Jose, focusing on low-power sensing and computing systems. You will design near-sensor processing architectures, prototype imaging pipelines, and bridge hardware with advanced vision models.

Collaboration with experts aims to push frontier tech in a fast-growing organization. The program blends hands-on research, community-building, and development events, with opportunities to contribute to products and research

Qualifications

• PhD candidate in a relevant engineering/AI field with strong research focus.
• Hands-on experience with imaging, sensors, or ML/vision.
• Experience with large-scale vision models or world models is preferred.
• Proven ability to publish high-impact work (Nature/Science/CVPR/NeurIPS, etc.).

Responsibilities

• Design and prototype sensor/imaging architectures with near-sensor processing.
• Build and characterize end-to-end imaging pipelines from sensor to downstream models.
• Leverage VLM/LLM and world models to inform frontend sensing decisions.
• Develop or adapt machine vision models co-optimized with hardware constraints (power, bandwidth, latency).

Skills

Imaging systems

Sensor technology

Machine learning / computer vision

VLM/LLM/world models

Communication skills

Education

PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering/Physics/Computer Engineering/AI

Job description

Intelligent Sensing Intern – Low-power Agent Sensing and Computing Systems – Global Frontier Tech Recruitment Program – 2027 Start (PHD)

Location:

San Jose

Team:

Technology

Employment Type:

Intern

Job Code:

A58874

Responsibilities

We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship in 2026. PhD Internships at our Company aim to provide students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, and to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies. PhD internships at Our Company provides students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, and to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies. Our dynamic internship experience blends hands‑on learning, enriching community‑building and development events, and collaboration with industry experts.

• Design and prototype novel sensor or imaging architectures that move computation closer to the sensing front‑end (e.g., near‑sensor processing, event‑driven capture, learned compression at the pixel level)
• Build and characterize imaging pipelines end‑to‑end: from optical/sensor physics through ISP to downstream perception models — identify where bits are wasted and where intelligence should be injected
• Leverage understanding of VLM/LLM and world models to inform what information the sensing front‑end must preserve, discard, or transform — closing the loop between foundation model requirements and hardware design
• Develop or adapt machine vision models that are co‑optimized with hardware constraints (power, bandwidth, latency)

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD candidate in the field Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Engineering, AI, or a related discipline
• Strong foundation in at least one of: imaging systems, sensor technology, or machine learning / computer vision
• Hands‑on experience with VLM/LLM, world models, or large‑scale vision foundation models, including understanding of data and architectural requirements
• Track record of high impact publication such as Nature, Science, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, SIGGRAPH, or equivalent
• Ability to bridge hardware and algorithm thinking — from device‑level concepts to model training workflows
• Strong communication skills with demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively in teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep experience working across both hardware (e.g., sensors, imaging pipelines) and software/model development
• Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments with an “explorer mindset”
• Experience with AI‑assisted development tools in research or engineering workflows
• Multidisciplinary project experience and ability to quickly ramp in unfamiliar domains

Job Information

The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $75- $75.

Benefits

• Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location.
• Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more.
• Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year).
• Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.

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:

• Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
• Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems;
• Exercising sound judgment.

About Pico

Founded in April 2015, Pico is a VR company committed to developing immersive and interactive VR experiences for people around the world. Pico also provides tailor‑made solutions for our enterprise clients in the fields of education and healthcare.

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