PhD AI Engineer Intern - Agent Platforms & Risk

TikTok; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 68,000 - 97,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Housing allowance

10 paid holidays per year

Job summary

TikTok Inc. in San Jose is seeking a PhD student for the Software Engineer Intern (TikTok BRIC) role, focusing on risk, AI, and scalable backend work. You will contribute to risk control algorithms and platforms across TikTok products, with hands-on research and real-world impact.

The internship emphasizes hands-on learning, collaboration with industry experts, and potential conversion to a full-time role. You will work with Python/Go/C++/Java and ML methods, profiling performance and shaping

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Software Engineering, Data Science or a related technical discipline.
• Solid programming skills, proficient in one of the languages (Python / Go / C++ / Java), with good software engineering practices.
• Strong foundation in machine learning and data analysis; rigorous experimental methodology — defining metrics, running controlled comparisons, and drawing defensible conclusions.
• Strong sense of ownership, proactive, and effective in communication; able to work in an English-speaking, cross‑functional environment.

Responsibilities

• Profile the risk engine, identify performance bottlenecks, propose and verify optimizations.
• Audit rule base across its lifecycle, detect issues, and propose safe changes with human-in-the-loop approval.
• Contribute to agent platform foundations: tooling, observability, safety controls, and production readiness.

Skills

Python

Go

C++

Java

Machine learning

Data analysis

English communication

Cross-functional teamwork

Education

PhD in Computer Science / AI / ML / SE / Data Science

Job description

TikTok Inc. in San Jose is seeking a PhD student for the Software Engineer Intern (TikTok BRIC) role, focusing on risk, AI, and scalable backend work. You will contribute to risk control algorithms and platforms across TikTok products, with hands-on research and real-world impact.

The internship emphasizes hands-on learning, collaboration with industry experts, and potential conversion to a full-time role. You will work with Python/Go/C++/Java and ML methods, profiling performance and shaping