Senior Software Engineer, Capacity & Optimization - USDS

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

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is seeking an Operations Research–driven engineer to design and deploy large-scale optimization systems for capacity and performance across data centers, servers, and networks. You will bridge business goals with concrete technical execution and influence infrastructure planning at multi-year horizons.

You will lead complex software work, model optimization problems, collaborate with finance and product teams, and help balance cost efficiency with reliability to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/CE or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proficient in Golang, C/C++, or other coding languages and designing large scale software systems.
• Proficient in Python and Shell scripting for Linux troubleshooting and automation.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop large-scale optimization software systems for reliable planning.
• Lead large engineering efforts and implement complex parts of the system.
• Partner with Finance and business teams to balance cost efficiency with technical considerations.
• Work cross-functionally to define problems, collect data, build models, and drive optimization.
• Identify capacity issues and implement cross-team solutions.
• Collaborate with data center teams to project infrastructure needs 2-5 years ahead.

Skills

Golang

C/C++

Python

Shell

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering or equivalent

Job description

Responsibilities

About the team: Capacity & Optimization Engineering team focus on site-wide performance and capacity optimization at the intersection of all TikTok products, services, and physical infrastructure (Servers, Data Centers, Network). This role will focus on optimizing Infrastructure performance and capacity at various altitudes to balance services, infrastructure, and business constraints by using Operations Research skills to build and improve mathematical optimization models and solutions. This role is uniquely positioned to optimize infrastructure resources at the most strategic levels with company level impact. This is one of the most cross functional roles at the company, with the opportunity to work with a variety of engineering and business teams to power the rapid growth of TikTok's products. This engineer will help to ensure optimal operation of our infrastructure resources from both a cost and technology perspective, facilitating tens of billions of user requests, tens of exabytes of data and terabits/s of network flow. Come and help build one of the largest fleet and internet services in the world!

• Design and develop large-scale optimization software systems that ensure reliable and efficient planning. These systems bridge business strategy with precise technical execution, incorporating regional and temporal bin-packing, optimal service placement, service migrations, and streamlined hardware refresh processes.
• Effectively lead large engineering efforts while implementing the most complex parts of the system and process design yourself.
• Partner with Finance and business teams to balance cost efficiency with technical and product considerations.
• Work cross-functionally to define problem statements, collect data, build software driven models and make recommendations to drive change and optimization at the most strategic levels.
• Identify capacity-related issues proactively and work across technical and business teams to define and implement solutions.
• Collaborate with data center engineering teams, strategize, and project infrastructure needs 2-5 years in the future, influence next generation data center development, and develop recommendations and strategies that give a unique edge to Oracle hardware infrastructure.
• Demonstrated success leading large engineering projects and initiatives. Defining goals, managing ambiguity, inspiring and leading other engineers and non-technical contributors.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proficient in Golang, C/C++, or other coding languages and designing large scale software systems.
• Proficient in scripting languages like Python and Shell, enabling efficient Linux troubleshooting and automation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of cloud architecture and data center infrastructure.
• Knowledge of server technology, rack architecture and at-scale cloud infrastructure deployment.
• Technical understanding of server platform architecture, design and development, with emphasis on at scale deployment.
• Technical understanding of commodity storage and memory technologies (SSDs, HDDs, tape, DRAM etc.) and knowledgeable on storage and/or memory industry trends

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:

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.