Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Recommendations- USDS E-commerce Alliance

TikTok USDS Joint Venture; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 187,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is seeking a strong ML/AI engineer to design and deploy large-scale algorithms that model real-time creator interests and optimize product recommendations. The role focuses on improving conversion, ranking, and recall to raise platform GMV while supporting the e-commerce ecosystem for millions of merchants.

Applicants should have a CS degree and hands-on experience with TensorFlow or PyTorch, plus proficiency in C++ or Python.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS or related fields required.
• Strong programming and problem-solving ability expected.
• Familiar with ML algorithms such as Collaborative Filtering, Matrix Factorization, Factorization Machines, Word2vec, Logistic Regression, Gradient Boosting Trees, Deep Neural Networks, Wide and Deep, GBDT, LTR, Word2vec, among others.
• Experience with TensorFlow or PyTorch preferred.

Responsibilities

• Build and design large-scale machine learning algorithms to model real-time creator interests and improve conversion efficiency.
• Optimize TikTok's commodity relationship mining, ranking, and recall of product recommendations to boost GMV.
• Analyze creator and merchant behavior to develop targeted algorithm strategies and monetize effectively.
• Support rapid development of TikTok's e-commerce business, serving millions of merchants and enhancing user shopping experience.

Skills

Programming

Machine Learning

Python

C++

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related fields

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Job description

Responsibilities

The e-commerce alliance team aims to serve merchants and creators in the e-commerce platform to meet merchants' business indicators and improve creators' creative efficiency. By cooperating with merchants and creators, we aim to provide high-quality content and a personalized shopping experience for TikTok users, create efficient shopping tools at seller centers, and promote cooperation between merchants and creators.

• Build and design large-scale machine learning algorithms to model the real-time interests of creators to improve conversion efficiency
• Optimize TikTok's massive commodity relationship mining and ranking and recall of creators' product recommendations, and improve the overall GMV of the platform
• Use the large scale of data to deeply analyze the behavior of creators and merchants and build targeted algorithm strategies to empower creators and merchants, improve merchants' monetization efficiency, and boost industrial upgrading
• Support the rapid development of TikTok's e-commerce business, serve millions of merchants, explore more efficient business models, satisfy users with the best shopping experience, and promote healthy ecological development

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science or related fields.
• Strong programming and problem-solving ability.
• This role is open to graduates in applied machine learning, familiar with one or more of the algorithms such as Collaborative Filtering, Matrix Factorization, Factorization Machines, Word2vec, Logistic Regression, Gradient Boosting Trees, Deep Neural Networks, Wide and Deep, GBDT, LTR, Word2vec, DIN, Deep&Wide.
• Experience in Deep Learning Tools such as tensorflow/pytorch.
• Experience with at least one programming language like C++/Python or equivalent.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in recommendation system, search engine, online advertising, information retrieval, natural language processing, machine learning, large-scale data mining, or related fields.
• Publications at KDD, NeurlPS, WWW, SIGIR, WSDM, ICML, IJCAI, AAAI, RECSYS and related conferences/journals, or experience in data mining/machine learning competitions such as Kaggle/KDD-cup etc.

About USDS

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is dedicated to the safety and security of millions of Americans who create, discover, and connect with what they love on the apps we operate. The Joint Venture has been established in compliance with the Executive Order signed by President Trump on September 25, 2025. Our foundation is a comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity program we operate under defined safeguards to protect national security and secure U.S. user data, apps and the algorithm. We safeguard the U.S. content ecosystem, holding decision-making authority for trust and safety policies and moderation. USDS Joint Venture helps ensure Americans can continue to express their creativity, discover new hobbies and interests, and build thriving communities and businesses on a global scale.

On-site presence across teams allows the company to operate with greater speed, alignment, and agility — especially in areas like real-time decision-making, team development, and integrated execution. As such, the company is shifting from a hybrid work model to a fully in-person schedule up to 5 days a week.

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.

USDS Reasonable Accommodation

USDS 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/USDS-RA

Job Information

【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $187040 - $359720 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.