Software Engineer Intern (TikTok Search Data Infra) - 2027 Fall

TikTok; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 51,000 - 73,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life insurance

Wellbeing benefits

10 paid holidays per year

Job summary

TikTok is offering an internship on the Search Engineering team. You will build and own query/video pipelines at massive scale, develop a feature engineering platform, and create data pipelines turning actions into training data.

This hands-on role emphasizes learning and real-world impact in a fast-paced data infrastructure setting. Qualifications include pursuing a CS degree and strong Java/C++/Python skills, with experience in Spark, Flink, or Hive/Iceberg.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline.
• Strong programming skills in Java, C++, or Python.
• Production experience with data frameworks such as Spark, Flink, or Hive/Iceberg.
• Solid distributed systems fundamentals, and the ability to debug and optimize complex systems in production.

Responsibilities

• Build and own query/video pipelines - ingestion, enrichment, and streaming/batch index construction at billion-doc scale with near-real-time freshness.
• Develop the feature engineering platform: computation, backfill, storage, and serving, with strong online/offline consistency guarantees.
• Build streaming and batch sample pipelines that turn user actions and features into high-quality training data.
• Improve data quality, observability, and cost efficiency across PB-scale storage and compute.

Skills

Java

C++

Python

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Master's degree in CS or related (preferred)

Tools

Spark

Flink

Hive/Iceberg

Job description

Responsibilities

About the Team

Our Search Engineering Team builds and owns TikTok's search engine, combining information retrieval with modern machine learning from NLP, CV, and recommender systems. We embrace a culture of self-direction, intellectual curiosity, openness, and problem-solving.

The Data Infrastructure team owns the data layer: how billions of videos and articles are ingested and indexed, how features are computed and served, how petabytes of user actions and features become training data, and how long sequences are modeled. Every retrieval and ranking model in TikTok Search runs on data our systems produce.

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. Applications will be considered in the order they are submitted.

Responsibilities

• Build and own query/video pipelines - ingestion, enrichment, and streaming/batch index construction at billion-doc scale with near-real-time freshness.
• Develop the feature engineering platform: computation, backfill, storage, and serving, with strong online/offline consistency guarantees.
• Build streaming and batch sample pipelines that turn user actions and features into high-quality training data.
• Improve data quality, observability, and cost efficiency across PB-scale storage and compute.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualification(s)

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline.
• Strong programming skills in Java, C++, or Python.
• Production experience with data frameworks such as Spark, Flink, or Hive/Iceberg.
• Solid distributed systems fundamentals, and the ability to debug and optimize complex systems in production.

Preferred Qualification(s)

• Currently pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline.
• Experience with search, recommendation, or ads data infrastructure.
• Experience with feature stores and training sample pipelines.
• Familiarity with real-time indexing, inverted index, or embedding/vector retrieval pipelines.
• Experience using AI coding assistants and agents to improve day-to-day development productivity.

Job Information

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

The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $45- $45.

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:

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:

• 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