Software Engineer Intern (Global E-commerce-Search) - 2027 Fall

TikTok; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 51,000 - 69,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Housing allowance

Paid holidays

Job summary

TikTok is seeking interns for the Global E-Commerce Search Infrastructure team to work on product discovery systems powering TikTok Shop. You will be paired with a mentor and contribute to real-world features across languages like C++, Go, Java, or Python.

This 12-week internship offers hands-on coding, design reviews, and exposure to distributed systems, data processing, and ML-enabled search infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• Able to work full-time for 12 consecutive weeks.
• Programming experience in at least one general‑purpose language such as C++, Go, Java, or Python.
• Understanding of data structures, algorithms, and object‑oriented or modular software design.
• Ability to communicate effectively and work collaboratively in a team environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement a scoped feature or system component with guidance from your mentor.
• Write clear, maintainable, and tested production code in languages such as C++, Go, Java, or Python.
• Participate in design discussions, code reviews, testing, documentation, and launch-readiness reviews.
• Use metrics and benchmarks to evaluate system quality, such as latency, throughput, reliability, freshness, or search relevance.
• Investigate technical issues, identify root causes, and propose practical improvements.
• Present your work and results to the team at the end of the internship.

Skills

Programming languages

Data structures & algorithms

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Pursuing Bachelors/Masters in CS/CE/SE

Tools

Git

Job description

Responsibilities

The Global E-Commerce Search Infrastructure team builds the systems that power product discovery on TikTok Shop. We work across retrieval, indexing, query understanding, real-time data processing, and AI-enabled search infrastructure. Our goal is to help customers find relevant products quickly and reliably while operating services on a global scale.

As an intern, you will be matched with one well-scoped project based on your experience, interests, and team priorities. You will work with a dedicated mentor and collaborate with engineers across search, machine learning, and data infrastructure.

We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship. Our internship program offers students hands‑on experience, industry exposure, and opportunities to apply their knowledge to real‑world challenges while building a strong foundation for personal and professional growth.

Interns will gain practical experience, explore potential career paths, and participate in social events, learning programs, and development workshops alongside industry professionals.

Candidates may apply to a maximum of two positions across Our Company and its affiliates globally.

Online Assessment

Responsibilities

• Design and implement a scoped feature or system component with guidance from your mentor.
• Write clear, maintainable, and tested production code in languages such as C++, Go, Java, or Python.
• Participate in design discussions, code reviews, testing, documentation, and launch-readiness reviews.
• Use metrics and benchmarks to evaluate system quality, such as latency, throughput, reliability, freshness, or search relevance.
• Investigate technical issues, identify root causes, and propose practical improvements.
• Present your work and results to the team at the end of the internship.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Able to work full-time for 12 consecutive weeks.
• Programming experience in at least one general‑purpose language, such as C++, Go, Java, or Python.
• Understanding of data structures, algorithms, and object‑oriented or modular software design.
• Ability to communicate effectively and work collaboratively in a team environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Coursework, research, personal projects, open‑source contributions, or prior internships involving software systems.
• Search or information‑retrieval concepts, such as inverted indexes, BM25, learning‑to‑rank, vector search, FAISS, or HNSW.
• Distributed systems, databases, storage systems, or data‑processing frameworks such as Kafka, Flink, or Spark.
• AI or machine‑learning infrastructure, model serving, retrieval‑augmented generation, or agentic systems.
• Performance analysis, debugging, Linux development, or competitive programming.

By submitting an application for this role, you accept and agree to our global applicant privacy policy, which may be accessed here: https://careers.tiktok.com/legal/privacy

Job Information

【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern

The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $42.75- $42.75.

Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.

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

• Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
• Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
• Exercising sound judgment.

About TikTok

TikTok is the leading destination for short‑form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

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.

TikTok Accommodation

TikTok 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/RA-request