Research Scientist Graduate (Infrastructure System Lab)- 2026 Start (PHD)

ByteDance; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 156,000 - 387,600; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) plan with company match

Paid parental leave

Paid holidays and sick days

Short-term and long-term disability coverage

Job summary

ByteDance in San Jose, California is seeking candidates for a research role in LLM/AI and infrastructure systems. The position requires a PhD in a relevant field and strong programming skills in languages such as C/C++, Go, Java, or Python.

Successful candidates will engage in R&D, propose new system designs, and publish technical papers. The compensation ranges from $156,000 to $387,600 annually, complemented by a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• Currently completing or recently completed a relevant PhD.
• Understanding of distributed systems such as storage and database systems.
• Proficiency in programming languages like C/C++, Go, Java, or Python.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research surveys and propose new system designs.
• Develop and deploy new systems in production.
• Debug systems and measure performance.
• Collaborate with mentors and lab members.
• Write reports and publish papers.

Skills

C/C++

Go

Java

Python

Distributed systems

Education

PhD in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related

Job description

About Team

With the fast growth of ByteDance's business, ByteDance's system infrastructure is currently at a massive scale and requires versatile system solutions. Our lab collaborates with HQ teams on advanced R&D projects, focusing on LLM/AI + Infrastructure technologies, which includes both infrastructure for LLM/AI and LLM/AI for infrastructure. We are building a new cloud‑native vector index library, have a TextToSQL project that ranks top on well‑known industry benchmarks, and work on advanced AIOps technologies used by our Volcano cloud products. We encourage publishing on top‑tier conferences and have published nearly 20 papers in 2025, including SIGMOD, VLDB, FSE, ICLR, EuroSys, and WWW. We hire students with great technical skills, willingness to learn, and passion for solving complex challenges and making an impact on millions of users.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research surveys and propose new system and algorithm designs.
• Develop new systems and successfully deploy them into production environments.
• Debug systems and measure system performance.
• Collaborate with mentors and other lab members.
• Write technical reports and publish papers.

Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by the end of year 2026. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently completing or recently completed a PhD in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Understand how distributed systems work, such as distributed storage and database systems.
• Great programming skill in one or more of the following languages: C/C++, Go, Java, or Python.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong past research experience in infrastructure system areas.
• Research experience with AI and LLM.
• Strong publication records.

Compensation

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $156,000 – $387,600 annually. Compensation may vary based on qualifications, skills, experience, and location. The base pay is one part of the Total Package and may be eligible for discretionary bonuses/incentives and restricted stock units.

Benefits

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, and wellbeing benefits. 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.

Employment Eligibility

As a condition of employment, all successful candidates must be able to establish authorization to work in the United States. For this position, the Company does not provide sponsorship or any immigration‑related benefits.

Los Angeles County Background Check

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.