Research Scientist Graduate (Multimodal Interaction and World Model) - 2026 Start (PhD)

ByteDance; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 244,800 - 450,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid parental leave

10 paid holidays per year

Paid sick days

Job summary

ByteDance is hiring for a research role in artificial intelligence, specifically focusing on multimodal data and reasoning capabilities. Candidates must have a PhD in a related field along with publication experience in leading AI conferences. The salary ranges from $244,800 to $450,000 annually, with additional benefits including healthcare, 401(k) match, and paid vacation. Join the ByteDance Seed team to work on groundbreaking AI advancements and enjoy a supportive, diverse work environment.

Qualifications

• Must have completed or be completing a PhD.
• Publications in major AI/ML conferences are required.
• Strong research background in relevant areas is a must.

Responsibilities

• Drive research on multimodal models.
• Optimize model performance and efficiency.
• Establish scaling laws and conduct systematic studies.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

Multimodal learning

Video understanding

Vision-language modeling

Education

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

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

Distributed training frameworks

Job description

Overview

The ByteDance Seed team is dedicated to pioneering new paths toward artificial general intelligence, with research spanning MLLM, GenMedia, AI for Science, and Robotics. We maintain a global presence with laboratories and career opportunities across China, Singapore, and the United States. The team has launched industry-leading general foundation models and multimodal capabilities, powering over 50 application scenarios and serving enterprise customers through Volcano Engine and BytePlus.

We are looking for talented individuals to join our team in 2026. As a graduate, you will have opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock growth. Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by end of year 2026. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume.

Responsibilities

• Drive research and engineering to advance models that enhance understanding of multimodal data and enlarge reasoning capabilities.
• Explore research ideas that optimize both the model\'s performance and efficiency.
• Establish scaling laws, design and conduct systematic ablations that result in transferrable conclusions.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Individuals who are completing or have recently completed a PhD in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• Publications in accredited venues, such as CVPR, ECCV, ICCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, or other leading AI/ML conferences
• Strong research background in at least one of the following: reinforcement learning, multimodal learning, video understanding, or vision-language modeling

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in Transformers (Dense and MoE) and experience scaling Transformers on GPUs or TPUs
• Hands-on experience in PyTorch/JAX and distributed training frameworks
• Familiar with state-of-the-art techniques for preparing multimodal training data

Job Information

For Pay Transparency: Compensation Description (Annually) The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $244800 - $450000 annually. Compensation may vary outside of this range based on qualifications, skills, competencies, experience, and location. Base pay is part of the Total Package and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives and restricted stock units.

Benefits may vary by employment type and country. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) with company match, paid parental leave, disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, and more. 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year, and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated at hire with tenure-based accruals) are provided. The company reserves the right to modify or change these programs at any time, with or without notice.

For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates: Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered in accordance with all applicable laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act. The following job duties may be adversely affected by criminal history and could influence the conditional offer of employment:

• Interacting with internal/external clients and colleagues
• Handling confidential information and information system access
• Exercising sound judgment

About Doubao (Seed)
The ByteDance Seed team focuses on pioneering new paths toward artificial general intelligence, with research spanning MLLM, GenMedia, AI for Science, and Robotics. We operate globally with opportunities across multiple regions and have launched industry-leading foundation models and multimodal capabilities.

Diversity & Inclusion
ByteDance is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills and perspectives. We celebrate diverse voices and strive to create an environment that reflects our global communities.

Reasonable Accommodation
We provide reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs, or other protected reasons. If you need assistance, please reach out to us at https://tinyurl.com/RA-request