Senior Software Engineer, Ads ML Infrastructure - USDS

TikTok USDS Joint Venture; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 137,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture in San Jose, CA, is seeking a Software Engineer to lead the Ads ranking infrastructure and ML data platform projects. You will guide scalable systems for data collection, feature engineering, and model training, and collaborate with diverse teams across the organization.

The role emphasizes technical leadership, cross-functional communication, and ongoing innovation as the ads system handles millions of advertisers and inputs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related technical disciplines.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with building and training complex and scalable machine learning systems.
• Strong Computer Science fundamentals (algorithms, data structures, software design) and problem-solving skills.
• Solid coding skills and a good understanding of algorithms, especially causal inference, uplift model, and deep learning.
• Experience in managing projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead projects committed to building and operating scalable and reliable Ads ranking infrastructure systems.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to team members and project peers.
• Communicate cross-functionally across various teams, organizations and internal and external stakeholders to drive engineering efforts.
• Lead the innovation efforts, and bring in new ideas and technologies.

Skills

Machine Learning

Algorithms

Coding

CS fundamentals

Project Management

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science

Job description

Responsibilities

About the team

The ads system at TikTok USDS operates on a massive scale and serves millions of advertisers, clients and influencers across the world. The quality of the ads system highly depends on the ability to handle massive data, and machine learning is widely used to improve the quality of our ads. The Ads machine learning data platform team is responsible for building highly efficient and stable infrastructure to collect and process data for the usage of machine learning training, serving, and privacy enforcement, including feature engineering, feature store, training data generation, etc.

We are looking for an innovative Software Engineer to join the team. You will provide technical leadership to key projects and empower the team.

• Lead projects committed to building and operating scalable and reliable Ads ranking infrastructure systems.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to team members and project peers.
• Communicate cross-functionally across various teams, organizations and internal and external stakeholders to drive engineering efforts.
• Lead the innovation efforts, and bring in new ideas and technologies.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related technical disciplines.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with building and training complex and scalable machine learning systems.
• Strong Computer Science fundamentals (algorithms, data structures, software design) and problem-solving skills.
• Solid coding skills and a good understanding of algorithms, especially causal inference, uplift model, and deep learning.
• Experience in managing projects.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in Ads domain.
• Experience with building large-scale ranking infrastructure.

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 $136800 - $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;
3. Exercising sound judgment.