Senior Machine Learning Engineer - USDS Shop Ads

TikTok USDS Joint Venture; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 178,000 - 342,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC seeks a Machine Learning Engineer to join the Ads team in Seattle, WA. You will build scalable ML systems to improve ad ranking and help advertisers optimize campaigns, collaborating with product managers and designers to shape next‑gen shopping experiences.

Required: strong SQL and Python, experience with Hadoop/Spark, and a solid ML foundation. Excellent communication and analytic skills are essential; a Master’s degree and 5+ years in related roles are preferred.

Qualifications

• Highly self-motivated to drive business growth and foster technical advancement.
• Proficient in using SQL and Python and experience with data manipulation.
• Experience with big data processing frameworks (e.g., Hadoop, Spark) and distributed computing for efficient data mining on large-scale datasets.
• Solid understanding of machine/deep learning concepts and techniques, including feature engineering, model evaluation, and optimization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a demonstrated ability to handle and derive insights from complex and unstructured datasets.

Responsibilities

• Build highly scalable machine learning systems and state-of-the-art machine learning models to improve ad ranking quality and optimize advertisers' marketing strategies.
• Explore, develop and experiment with new features to improve model accuracy.
• Understand ads platform objectives and take full advantage of modern machine learning to improve ads relevance, quality, and quantity delivered to end-users.
• Collaborate with Global counterpart, Product Managers, Designers, and other disciplines to explore the next generation of shopping experiences on TikTok.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Problem-solving

Communication skills

Collaboration skills

Education

Master’s or advanced degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, or related field

Tools

SQL

Python

Hadoop

Spark

Job description

Responsibilities

The TikTok USDS shop Ads team is dedicated to blending advertiser focus with technical expertise. Our mission is to enhance shop ads—both open-loop and closed-loop—to establish TikTok US as an essential growth engine for businesses of all sizes and a top destination for consumers to discover and buy products, content, and services. We are crucial to driving TikTok's ad revenue and are committed to developing the next-generation shop ad solutions for the platform.

Key Responsibilities

• Build highly scalable machine learning systems and state-of-the-art machine learning models to improve ad ranking quality and optimize advertisers' marketing strategies. Examples include but are not limited to click through rate prediction, conversion rate prediction, intelligent format selection and user journey optimization.
• Explore, develop and experiment with new features to improve model accuracy.
• Understand ads platform objectives and take full advantage of modern machine learning to improve ads relevance, quality, and quantity delivered to end-users.
• Collaborate with Global counterpart, Product Managers, Designers, and other disciplines to explore the next generation of shopping experiences on TikTok.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Highly self-motivated to drive business growth and foster technical advancement.
• Proficient in using SQL and Python and experience with data manipulation.
• Experience with big data processing frameworks (e.g., Hadoop, Spark) and distributed computing for efficient data mining on large-scale datasets.
• Solid understanding of machine/deep learning concepts and techniques, including feature engineering, model evaluation, and optimization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a demonstrated ability to handle and derive insights from complex and unstructured datasets.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, or a related field.
• 5+ years experience as a Machine Learning Engineer, Data Scientist, and experience in causal machine learning is preferred.
• Work experience in user growth, marketing algorithms, recommendation algorithms, advertisement algorithms or related fields is preferred.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams and convey technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

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 $177688 - $341734 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;
• 3. Exercising sound judgment.