Senior Software Engineer, Dev Infra

TikTok USDS Joint Venture; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 187,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC seeks a Senior Software Engineer to own and evolve the SDLC tooling that powers our US infrastructure. You will design, build, and operate CI/CD pipelines, artifact repositories, and deployment workflows, enabling secure, auditable releases for engineering teams and autonomous agents.

In collaboration with cross-functional partners, you will implement SBOMs, attestation, and policy gates, enhance resilience and DR capabilities, and provide technical leadership to

Qualifications

• BS/MS in CS/CE or related field with 5+ years of industry experience.
• Strong programming skills in Go, Python, or Node.js and knowledge of data structures.
• Experience building large-scale CI/CD pipelines with GitLab CI/Jenkins or similar tools.
• Experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, GCP, Azure) and IAM concepts.
• Experience with artifact repositories (Docker, Artifactory, Nexus).

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the software development lifecycle tooling including compilation, build, and release workflows.
• Implement and manage secure supply chain controls (SBOM, attestation, provenance tracking).
• Automate policy-as-code gates within CI/CD pipelines (secrets scanning, license checks, vulnerability scanning).
• Enhance system resilience, disaster recovery, and business continuity for pipelines and repositories.
• Provide technical leadership and drive milestone delivery for scalable build workloads.

Skills

Go

Python

Node.js

CI/CD pipelines

Cloud platforms

Artifact repositories

Education

BS/MS in CS/CE

Tools

Docker

JFrog Artifactory

Nexus

Kubernetes

GitLab CI

Job description

Responsibilities

Our team owns the developer platform and release toolchain that powers TikTok’s US infrastructure. We focus on CI/CD pipelines, artifact repository management, and cloud deployment workflows, partnering closely with engineering teams and assurance partners to build, test, and release fast, secure, and compliant products.

We are looking for a battle-tested Senior Software Engineer who thrives at the intersection of infrastructure systems engineering and autonomous software to help develop our next generation SDLC, architectedand scaled for the future of agent-based development.

In this role, you will design, build, and operate the critical tooling that developers and autonomous agents use every day: compilers, build chains, artifact repositories, test infrastructure and deployment workflows. You will work with engineers across teams to understand their changing development lifecycle with the use of AI, reduce friction in shipping code, and implement robust security and assurance guardrails that keep our production environments stable, auditable, and compliant.

• Software Lifecycle: re-architect, design, build and maintain software development workflows (from compilation to deployment) for backend and platform services, improving reliability, speed and experience for both humans and agents, while embedding security and compliance
• Secure Supply Chain Management: Implement and manage software supply chain security controls, including SBOM generation and validation, artifact signing and attestation (e.g., SLSA), and provenance tracking to ensure the integrity of the build and release process.
• Automate Policy-as-Code Gates: Integrate and enforce automated security and compliance gates within CI/CD pipelines, such as secrets scanning, dependency risk analysis, license compliance checks, and vulnerability scanning, with fail-safe promotion rules.
• Enhance System Resilience and Disaster Recovery: Align and enhance build and release tooling to be more resilient, support Disaster Recovery (DR), and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) requirements. Implement and periodically test backup and restore procedures for critical repositories and pipelines.
• Technical Leadership & Execution: Act as the tech lead for a high-impact engineering team. Drive design reviews, establish rigorous engineering standards, manage technical debt, and ensure the team hits aggressive roadmap milestones (e.g., scaling build loads by 3X).

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• BS/MS degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline with 5+ years of professional industry experience.
• Exceptional programming skills with deep proficiency in Go, Python, or Node.JS paired with a strong grasp of data structures, algorithms, and design patterns.
• Proven track record of building, deploying, and maintaining large-scale CI/CD pipelines using systems like GitLab CI, Jenkins, or similar tools.
• Experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, GCP, Azure, OCI), with a strong understanding of IAM concepts.
• Practical experience with artifact repositories (e.g., Docker, JFrog Artifactory, Nexus) for container images and language packages.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in platform or developer productivity teams, building internal tools and templates for other engineers.
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and its security ecosystem.
• A demonstrated track record of writing clear technical documentation for security processes and runbooks.

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 - $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; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.