Tech Lead AI Backend Software Engineer, TikTok - Asset Services

TikTok Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 254,000 - 480,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) with match

Parental leave

Disability coverage

Life insurance

Wellbeing benefits

Paid holidays

Paid sick days

Paid personal time

Job summary

TikTok Inc. in San Jose is seeking a Backend Engineer to help build and scale our asset platforms and AI-native services for massive consumer use. You will work across product, design, and frontend teams to deliver robust, performant backend solutions that power TikTok's creative tools.

The role emphasizes distributed systems, AI integration, and scalable architectures, with opportunities to shape the end-to-end creator experience and impact global users.

Qualifications

• Experienced in building backend services for large-scale consumer-facing applications.
• Deep understanding of computer architectures, data structures, and algorithms.
• Have good team communication and collaboration skills.
• Understand modern distributed system architecture.
• In-depth AI application experience and understanding of AI Coding paradigms.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with cross functional teams like product managers, designers, and Frontend engineers to deliver state of the art user experience in the above products mentioned;
• Build world-class products end-to-end, which combine usability, accessibility, elegance, performance, and maintainability;
• Guarantee the creation experience of 100 million-level UGC users and 10 million-level designers;
• Construct an AI Native service ecosystem and development workflow;
• Build an Agent system serving intelligent creation.

Skills

Backend systems

Algorithms & data structures

Team collaboration

Distributed systems

AI applications

Education

B.S. in CS or related

Job description

Responsibilities

The Creation team is an international R&D group tasked with building creative capabilities for TikTok. We're dedicated to productizing AI and multimedia technologies to create world-class creation experiences for TikTok users. Our tech stack includes front-end, back-end, mobile, and desktop development, as well as multimedia technologies like audio/video processing and AR effects, in addition to visual and graphic algorithms. Our team spans major cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou), Singapore, as well as the United States (San Jose, Seattle, and Los Angeles). Join us to craft the best creative tools with the most cutting-edge AI and multimedia technologies!

The Asset Service which has managed almost 100 million assets for multiple scenarios (such as TikTok effect and template). We manage the whole lifecycle of multiple assets, including creation, operations to consumption. Our distribution service QPS has reached 1 million, and we have provided the service for multi-regions in the global world, and distribute the material to the UGC creator. We will keep more efficient, stable and compliant to provide rich materials for the UGC creator to help them create more interesting content. Besides, we're also working on AIGC features in order to improve user experience and creator efficiency. The team is based in the US and CN, and our mission is to develop Loki into an efficient and reliable asset platform that, like the Norse god Loki, transforms assets into dynamic formats, to ensure magically easy asset creation, management, and consumption across multiple products.

As a Backend Engineer in our team, you'll play a key role in shaping this dynamic and ever-evolving platform, significantly contributing to TikTok's continued global impact.

• Work closely with cross functional teams like product managers, designers, and Frontend engineers to deliver state of the art user experience in the above products mentioned;
• Build world-class products end-to-end, which combine usability, accessibility, elegance, performance, and maintainability;
• Guarantee the creation experience of 100 million-level UGC users and 10 million-level designers;
• Construct an AI Native service ecosystem and development workflow;
• Build an Agent system serving intelligent creation.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Experienced in building backend services for large-scale consumer-facing applications;
• Deep understanding of computer architectures, data structures, and algorithms;
• Have good team communication and collaboration skills;
• Understand modern distributed system architecture;
• In-depth AI application experience and understanding of AI Coding paradigms.

Preferred Qualifications

• BA/BS Degree in Computer Science or related major.
• Industry experience in a software development environment.
• Experience in building AI Agents and understanding the construction principles of knowledge bases/Skill systems/memory.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $254400 - $480000 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.