Machine Learning Engineer, Brand Ads

TikTok; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 162,000 - 317,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok is hiring for a backend-focused role in California. You will help build delivery and inventory systems, forecast and allocate inventory, and arbitrate traffic between reservation and auction demand. The position involves end-to-end ownership from design to launch.

You will work with Product, Strategy, Data Science, and cross-functional teams to turn business opportunities into scalable capabilities. Strong coding and large-scale system experience are required.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong coding, debugging, and system design fundamentals.
• Proficiency in Go, C/C++, Java, Python, or similar languages.
• Comfort with ambiguity and the ability to make clear engineering trade-offs.
• Strong cross-functional communication and collaboration skills.
• Experience with large-scale backend, recommendation, or advertising systems.

Responsibilities

• Build and optimize the delivery stack across pacing, allocation, traffic strategy, and delivery controls.
• Drive products from concept to launch with Product, Strategy, and cross-functional partners.
• Turn business goals into scalable delivery strategies and system designs.
• Own technical design, implementation, experimentation, launch, and iteration.
• Use data and experiments to diagnose problems and drive fast iteration.

Skills

Go

C/C++

Java

Python

Backend systems

Ad systems

Education

BS/MS in CS

Job description

Responsibilities

Team Overview

Brands come to our platform for scale and for a content experience where their message lands in a way that feels native and relevant. Our team builds the delivery and inventory systems that make that possible for guaranteed delivery products, owning the path from inventory forecasting and allocation through pacing, traffic strategy, delivery quality, and brand safety. We partner closely with Product, Strategy, Data Science, and cross-functional engineering teams to turn open-ended business opportunities into capabilities that scale.

What You’ll Build

• Guaranteed delivery and pacing: the systems that meet committed delivery goals reliably while keeping delivery quality high.
• Inventory forecasting and allocation: the supply layer that predicts available inventory, allocates it across demand, improves utilization, and reduces waste.
• Traffic strategy and brand safety: the logic that arbitrates traffic between reservation and auction demand, and the controls that protect every impression.

Responsibilities

• Build and optimize the delivery stack across pacing, allocation, traffic strategy, and delivery controls.
• Drive products from concept to launch with Product, Strategy, and cross-functional partners.
• Turn business goals into scalable delivery strategies and system designs.
• Own technical design, implementation, experimentation, launch, and iteration.
• Use data and experiments to diagnose problems and drive fast iteration.

Why Join Us

You will work on a brand-facing business where your systems map directly to revenue and to the experience of major advertisers, solving real inventory and delivery problems at global scale and influencing both product and technical direction. If you are drawn to forecasting and allocation problems, pacing and delivery systems, and the kind of role where you own a product end to end, we would like to talk to you.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• BS/MS in Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong coding, debugging, and system design fundamentals.
• Proficiency in Go, C/C++, Java, Python, or similar languages.
• Comfort with ambiguity and the judgment to make clear engineering trade-offs.
• Strong cross-functional communication and collaboration skills.
• Experience with large-scale backend, recommendation, or advertising systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Hands-on ads delivery experience in pacing, allocation, forecasting, traffic strategy, or guaranteed delivery, and familiarity with reservation or guaranteed product models.

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.

TikTok Accommodation

TikTok 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

Job Information

【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $162000 - $316800 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.