Senior Software Engineer, Data Foundation – 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

Wellbeing benefits

Paid holidays

Paid sick days

Paid personal time

Restricted stock units

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is seeking a Senior Engineer to lead efficiency, stability, and AI-driven innovation for data infrastructure. You will optimize engines like Spark, Kafka, ClickHouse, and Doris at petabyte scale while pioneering AI-powered solutions that reduce costs and boost platform intelligence.

You will design and implement automated diagnosis, self-healing pipelines, and intelligent monitoring, while mentoring engineers and driving a forward-looking technical roadmap at the

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science or Engineering or related field.
• 3+ years building and maintaining large-scale distributed systems.
• In-depth knowledge of Apache Spark, ClickHouse or Doris.

Responsibilities

• Optimize Spark performance at petabyte scale.
• Enhance ClickHouse and Doris OLAP with storage-compute separation and query optimizations.
• Implement AI-driven resource allocation and cost optimization strategies.
• Develop automated job diagnosis and failure analysis systems using AI/ML.
• Build intelligent monitoring and self-healing capabilities for data pipelines.
• Create AI-powered tools for query optimization and data discovery.
• Design robust disaster recovery and data integrity mechanisms.
• Integrate AI/ML capabilities to enhance platform efficiency and developer productivity.
• Drive technical roadmap and mentor junior engineers.
• Explore new technologies at the intersection of distributed systems and AI.

Skills

Distributed systems

Spark performance

AI/ML systems

Education

BS/MS in CS or Engineering

Tools

Kafka

Flink

Kubernetes

ClickHouse

Doris

Job description

Responsibilities

The TikTok U.S. Data Security (USDS) team is responsible for the security, integrity, and compliance of TikTok’s data within the United States. The Data Platform Team builds a scalable, reliable, cost-efficient infrastructure that ensures data integrity and empowers every business unit to win through self-service tools and scientific insights.

We are seeking a Senior Engineer to lead efficiency, stability, and AI-driven innovation initiatives. You will be responsible for optimizing the performance and efficiency of our core data engines—Apache Spark, Kafka, ClickHouse, and Doris—while pioneering AI-powered solutions that enhance platform intelligence, automate operations, and drive cost optimization at a petabyte scale.

Performance & Efficiency

• Optimize Apache Spark performance and resource utilization at petabyte scale
• Enhance ClickHouse and Doris OLAP systems with storage-compute separation and query optimizations
• Implement AI-driven resource allocation and cost optimization strategies

Platform Intelligence & Automation

• Develop automated job diagnosis and failure analysis systems using AI/ML techniques
• Build intelligent monitoring and self-healing capabilities for data pipelines
• Create AI-powered tools for query optimization and data discovery

Stability & Operational Excellence

• Design robust disaster recovery and data integrity mechanisms
• Integrate AI/ML capabilities to enhance platform efficiency and developer productivity

Technical leadership

• Drive technical roadmap and mentor junior engineers
• Explore new technologies at the intersection of distributed systems and AI

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
• Distributed Systems: 3 years of experience building and maintaining large-scale distributed systems
• Stack Expertise: In-depth knowledge of Apache Spark, ClickHouse or Doris

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Kafka & Flink at scale
• Kubernetes (K8s) experience
• AI/ML systems experience

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
• Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year
• Employees also receive 10 paid sick days per year
• Employees also receive 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure)
• Additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units

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; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.