Software Engineer, AI Infrastructure - USDS

TikTok USDS Joint Venture; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is seeking an SRE-level engineer to join the AI Infra SRE team. You will help deploy, operate, and optimize large-scale, globally distributed systems for TikTok's state-of-the-art Recommendation and Search engines.

The role emphasizes automation, observability, and proactive troubleshooting across containerized services. You will work with Python or Go for automation, Docker, and basic CI/CD pipelines, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to maintain high

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field with 1+ years of professional experience.
• Solid understanding of Linux systems and networking fundamentals.
• Proficiency in Python or Go for automation tools.
• Experience with Docker and basic CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions).
• Foundational knowledge of distributed systems and strong troubleshooting interest.
• Effective communication and proactive problem solving.

Responsibilities

• Assist in deployment, operation, and optimization of large-scale Recommendation and Search systems.
• Develop and maintain internal software and automation scripts to reduce manual tasks.
• Support availability of services across global data centers via monitoring and maintenance.
• Track cloud resource utilization to meet efficiency goals and SLAs.
• Configure and manage monitoring stacks to observe latency, health, and performance.

Skills

Python or Go

Linux fundamentals

Networking fundamentals

Docker

CI/CD

Observability

Automation scripting

Communication

Agentic frameworks

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

GitLab CI

Job description

Responsibilities

About the Team The USDS JV AI Infra SRE team works with engineering and product teams to build and run large-scale, globally distributed, observable, fault-tolerant systems for TikTok state-of-the-Art Recommendation and Search engines. SREs on this team will deliver on production ownership and be responsible for observability and automation across complex, large-scale service mesh architectures.

• Assist in the deployment, operation, and optimization of Recommendation and Search systems throughout their entire lifecycle.
• Develop and maintain internal software and automation scripts to eliminate manual tasks and improve overall R&D velocity.
• Support the availability of large-scale services deployed across global data centers through proactive monitoring and maintenance.
• Track and report on cloud resource utilization to help the team meet efficiency goals and maintain cluster SLAs.
• Configure and manage monitoring stacks to track service latency, health metrics, and system performance.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field, with 1+ years of professional experience in software development or infrastructure.
• Solid understanding of Linux systems and networking fundamentals.
• Proficiency in programming with Python or Go, with a focus on writing clean and efficient automation tools.
• Experience working with Docker and basic CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions).
• Foundational knowledge of distributed systems and a strong interest in troubleshooting complex technical issues.
• Effective communication skills and a proactive approach to solving engineering bottlenecks.
• Experience with agentic frameworks and tools development.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience or internships focused on SRE, DevOps, or internal platform engineering.
• Familiarity with container orchestration tools like Kubernetes.
• Basic understanding of the machine learning lifecycle or model inference workflows.

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