Research Engineer Graduate Online Architecture- 2026 Start (PhD)

Responsibilities

The TikTok General Architecture team sits at the intersection of business and infrastructure, responsible for designing and optimizing the planet-scale business architecture that supports billions of users worldwide. Our mission is to embrace AI, build the most advanced business architecture infrastructure, establish public trust and compliance, focus on resource management and cost optimization, user experience and reliability, engineering quality, and development efficiency. Here, you will not only experience how technology directly empowers top-level business, but also deepen your technical expertise in planet-scale architecture research and engineering practices-transforming cutting-edge theory into real-world production solutions. Join us in exploring and driving the evolution of the next-generation planet-scale business architecture! We are looking for talented individuals to join our team in 2026. As a graduate, you will get opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock limitless growth. Launch your career where inspiration is infinite at TikTok. Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by end of year 2026. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume. - Conduct research and optimization for TikTok's ecosystem, serving billions of users worldwide, supported by globally distributed, ultra-large-scale data center clusters, and the industry's largest microservice system (over one million distinct services). - Perform data modeling and algorithmic optimization on complex business architecture systems, applying scientific methods to solve key challenges in ultra-large-scale infrastructure and business architecture, including but not limited to capacity forecasting and planning, service and data placement optimization, traffic scheduling optimization, and risk prediction and prevention. - Deliver significant business and academic value through architecture optimization: 1. Achieve substantial cost savings at the world's largest internet scale; 2. Enhance infrastructure planning and decision-making for global-scale businesses through AI and algorithm capabilities; 3. Enable highly automated and intelligent large-scale architecture governance; 4. Produce research outcomes in real-world frontier architecture scenarios suitable for publication at top-tier academic conferences/journals. - Translate research outcomes into engineering solutions deployable in production, achieving a complete loop from theory to practice. - Collaborate with architects, infrastructure, and business teams to drive global-scale deployment and adoption of optimization solutions. - Continuously explore cutting-edge technologies and methodologies to shape the next 3-5 years of TikTok's global business architecture evolution.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications - PhD degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, or a related field. - Solid research background in distributed systems, large-scale system optimization, or AI for Systems. - Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to model planet-scale, complex business and infrastructure systems, abstract key variables and constraints, and clearly articulate solutions through rigorous logical reasoning and effective communication. - Proficiency in optimization algorithms (e.g., integer programming, dynamic programming, graph optimization, reinforcement learning) and their application to large-scale optimization problems. - Proficiency in at least one mainstream programming language (e.g., Go, Java, C++, Python), with the capability to implement algorithms and models into production systems. - Ability to leverage AI tools and automation methods to efficiently accomplish tasks and enhance productivity, with strong motivation to explore cutting-edge technologies and solve complex industrial-scale problems. Preferred Qualifications - Experience in data modeling and analysis for large-scale systems or business architectures, with the ability to propose feasible optimization solutions based on business and system characteristics. - Publication record in top-tier conferences/journals such as OSDI, SOSP, NSDI, SoCC, SIGCOMM, KDD, NeurIPS. - Hands-on experience in optimization, scheduling, or resource management for ultra-large-scale production systems. - Familiarity with deployment and operations of large-scale distributed systems, and understanding of the challenges in cross-data-center and cross-region architecture optimization. - Experience in cross-domain collaboration (architecture, platform, business) to drive complex solutions into production.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency]Compensation Description (Annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $129960 - $246240 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.

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