Research Scientist Graduate (Seed-Multimodal Interaction and World Model) - 2027 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) savings plan with company match

Paid parental leave

Paid holidays and sick days

Job summary

ByteDance in San Jose seeks a PhD candidate to join the Seed Multimodal Interaction team, focused on developing innovative multimodal models that integrate vision, language, and more.

The successful candidate will work on improving decision-making and reasoning capabilities in AI systems, contributing to pioneering advancements in artificial intelligence.

ByteDance offers competitive compensation and a collaborative work environment where creativity flourishes.

Qualifications

• PhD candidates must have an expected graduation date by the end of 2027.
• Familiarity with large-scale model training or simulation environments is required.

Responsibilities

• Develop multimodal foundation models integrating vision, language, audio, and environment signals.
• Design and optimize world models for reasoning, planning, and interaction.
• Improve agent capabilities such as perception, memory, and decision-making.

Skills

Excellent coding ability, data structures, and algorithm skills

Proficient in C/C++ or Python

Experience in multimodal learning

Strong problem-solving and collaboration skills

Education

Currently pursuing a PhD in a relevant field

Job description

Responsibilities

About the team

The Seed Multimodal Interaction and World Model team is dedicated to developing models that have human-level multimodal understanding and interaction capabilities. The team is working to advance the exploration and development of multimodal assistant products.

• Develop multimodal foundation models integrating vision, language, audio, and environment signals.
• Design and optimize world models for reasoning, planning, and interaction.
• Build training pipelines including data curation, alignment, and reinforcement learning.
• Improve agent capabilities such as perception, memory, decision-making, and tool use.
• Explore next-generation interaction paradigms between humans and intelligent systems.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a PhD in computer science, mathematics, engineering, or a related field, with an expected graduation date in 2027 and the ability to commit to an onboarding date by the end of 2027.
• Excellent coding ability, data structures, and fundamental algorithm skills, proficient in C/C++ or Python, etc.
• Experience in multimodal learning, reinforcement learning, or agent systems.
• Familiarity with large-scale model training or simulation environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong research track record in relevant areas.
• Strong problem-solving and collaboration skills.

Job Information

【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $244,800 - $450,000 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:

• 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 Doubao (Seed)

Established in 2023, the ByteDance Seed team is dedicated to pioneering new paths toward artificial general intelligence. We aspire to advance the frontier of intelligence to drive progress for both technology and society. With a long-term vision for the AI sector, the Seed team's research spans MLLM, GenMedia, AI for Science, and Robotics. We maintain a global presence with laboratories and career opportunities across China, Singapore, and the United States. To date, we have launched industry-leading general foundation models and cutting-edge multimodal capabilities. Our technology powers over 50 application scenarios - including Doubao, Jimeng, TRAE, Dola and Dreamnia - and serves enterprise customers through Volcano Engine and BytePlus. Third-party data shows that the Doubao App ranks first in user volume in the Chinese market, while Doubao foundation models lead the industry in average daily token consumption.

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