Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Trust and Safety Algo - USDS

TikTok USDS Joint Venture; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 187,000 - 438,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid parental leave

Disability coverage

Life insurance

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture, in San Jose, seeks an experienced ML/AI researcher to design and deploy state-of-the-art models for safety and moderation on US-protected data.

You will work with research scientists and ML engineers to train, iterate, and deploy models within a secure environment, focusing on LLM and CV-related applications and ensuring strict compliance and security standards.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in ML, DL, CV, or content understanding.
• Degree in CS, EE, OR, math or similar quantitative field.
• Ml training, serving and optimization experience.

Responsibilities

• Own a sub-module in moderation system or a research direction (LLM/Safety).
• Design next-gen moderation systems for USDS compliance and safety.
• Work on NN and LLM models to address online safety problems.
• Collaborate with engineering to deploy pipelines on USDS infrastructure.
• Partner with product to define objectives and improve trust and safety.
• Collaborate with data analysis to uncover data patterns within protected data.

Skills

Machine learning

Deep learning

Computer vision

NLP

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Multimodal

Active learning

Large Language Models

Recommendation systems

Communication

Teamwork

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science or related quantitative field

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Responsibilities

As part of the USDS (US Data Security) organization, our team operates within a highly secure, dedicated environment designed to protect US user data. We are looking for people like you with solid experience in designing and deploying state-of-the-art models in the combination of NLP and CV-related areas. This position will work with a team of excellent research scientists and machine learning engineers who can take initiative, design and develop advanced machine learning solutions, and deploy them directly to TikTok's secure USDS platform. You will have the unique opportunity to train and iterate advanced models using US protected data under strict compliance and security frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for a whole sub-module in moderation system or a research direction including but not limited to LLM and application in Safety, moderation system iteration.
• Work with team members to design next-generation moderation systems with new technologies, tailored for USDS compliance and safety standards.
• Work on Neural Network models and LLM-based models to solve TikTok online safety problems, leveraging US protected data in a secure and compliant training environment.
• Work with engineering teams to implement model pipelines and deploy the service at scale on USDS secure infrastructure.
• Collaborate with the product team to define objectives and improve trust and safety strategy while adhering to US data privacy regulations.
• Collaborate with data analysis to understand and find data patterns within protected data boundaries.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years experience in one or more of the areas: machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, content understanding.
• BS/MS degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Operation Research, Applied Mathematics or similar quantitative fields.
• Skilled in deep learning model training (CV/NLP/NN), serving, and optimization.
• Proficient in deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch and TensorFlow.
• Hands-on experience in one or more of the following areas: machine learning (CV/NLP/Multimodal), active learning, Large Language Models, Recommendation Systems, and related areas.
• Strong coding skills, especially in Python and similar languages.
• Good communication and teamwork skills, passionate about learning new techniques and taking on challenging problems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experienced in large-scale online machine learning platforms is preferred.
• Experience in training and deploying models within secure, compliant, or regulated data environments (e.g., handling protected data, privacy-preserving machine learning) is a strong plus.
• Experiences in active learning, reinforcement learning, and LLM are a plus.
• Experience in trust and safety areas is a plus.

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 - $438000 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 Angles 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;
3. Exercising sound judgment.