{"id":17507,"date":"2026-02-09T13:42:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T17:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/tiktok-software-engineer-intern-recommendation-infrastructure-2026-start-phd\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T13:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T17:42:49","slug":"tiktok-software-engineer-intern-recommendation-infrastructure-2026-start-phd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/tiktok-software-engineer-intern-recommendation-infrastructure-2026-start-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok &#8211; Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) &#8211; 2026 Start (PhD)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>\r\n  :root\r\n  *\r\n  body\r\n  a\r\n  .container\r\n  .hero\r\n  .heroTop\r\n  h1\r\n  .sub\r\n  .tags\r\n  .tag\r\n  .ctaRow\r\n  .btn\r\n  .btn:hover\r\n  .btnPrimary\r\n  .btnGhost\r\n  .note\r\n\r\n  .grid\r\n  @media (max-width: 980px) }\r\n\r\n  .card\r\n  .cardPad\r\n  .sticky\r\n  @media (max-width: 980px) }\r\n\r\n  h2\r\n  p\r\n  .muted\r\n  .list\r\n  .list li\r\n  .split\r\n  @media (max-width: 540px) }\r\n\r\n  .kv\r\n  .kv:first-child\r\n  .k\r\n  .v\r\n  .section\r\n  .callout\r\n  .footer\r\n  .divider\r\n<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"hero\" aria-labelledby=\"job-title\">\r\n  <div class=\"heroTop\">\r\n    <div>\r\n      <h1 id=\"job-title\">Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) &#8211; 2026 Start (PhD)<\/h1>\r\n      <div class=\"sub\">TikTok \u00b7 Content Creators, Content Discovery<\/div>\r\n\r\n      <div class=\"tags\" aria-label=\"Key details\">\r\n        <span class=\"tag\">\ud83d\udccd San Jose, CA<\/span>\r\n        <span class=\"tag\">\ud83c\udfe2 On Site<\/span>\r\n        <span class=\"tag\">\ud83d\udcb0 $$60-$$60 \/hr<\/span>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n\r\n    <div class=\"ctaRow\">\r\n      <a class=\"btn btnPrimary\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeattiktok.com\/earlycareers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n        Apply on company site \u2197\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n<section class=\"grid\" aria-label=\"Internship details\">\r\n  <div>\r\n    <article class=\"card\">\r\n      <div class=\"cardPad section\">\r\n        <h2>About this internship<\/h2>\r\n        <div class=\"html-block\">\r\n          <p>TikTok is hiring a Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) for a 2026 PhD start, based on-site in San Jose, CA. This internship is designed for PhD students in Computer Science or a related technical discipline who can commit to 12 weeks during Summer 2026. Pay is listed at $60\/hr, and you must have and maintain work authorization in the country of employment at the time of hire.<\/p>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/article>\r\n\r\n    <article class=\"card\" style=\"margin-top:18px;\">\r\n      <div class=\"cardPad section\">\r\n        <h2>Qualifications<\/h2>\r\n\r\n        <div class=\"split\">\r\n          <div>\r\n            <h2 class=\"muted\" style=\"font-size:16px;margin-top:0;\">Required<\/h2>\r\n            <ul class=\"list\">\r\n              <li>Pursuing PhD in Computer Science or a related technical discipline<\/li>\n<li>Able to commit to working for 12 weeks during Summer 2026<\/li>\n<li>Must obtain work authorization in country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment.<\/li>\r\n            <\/ul>\r\n          <\/div>\r\n\r\n          <div>\r\n            <h2 class=\"muted\" style=\"font-size:16px;margin-top:0;\">Nice to have<\/h2>\r\n            <ul class=\"list\">\r\n              <li>Strong foundation in core computer science concepts gained through PhD coursework or research.<\/li>\n<li>Experience building or analyzing systems related to recommendation, content discovery, or personalization through academic projects.<\/li>\n<li>Ability to translate open-ended research problems into well-scoped engineering tasks and iterate based on results.<\/li>\n<li>Comfort collaborating with others on technical work and communicating progress and trade-offs clearly.<\/li>\r\n            <\/ul>\r\n          <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n\r\n        <div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n        <div class=\"callout\">\r\n          <h2 style=\"margin:0 0 6px 0;padding-left:0;padding-top:0;\">How to stand out (TUN tip)<\/h2>\r\n          <div class=\"html-block muted\">\r\n            <p>Before applying, confirm you can be on-site in San Jose for the full 12 weeks in Summer 2026 and that your work authorization will be valid for the entire internship. On your resume, highlight 1\u20132 PhD projects most relevant to recommendation infrastructure or content discovery, focusing on what you built and the impact you measured.<\/p>\r\n          <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/article>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <aside class=\"card sticky\" aria-label=\"Overview\">\r\n    <div class=\"cardPad\">\r\n      <h2 style=\"padding-left:0px;\">Overview<\/h2>\r\n\r\n      <div class=\"kv\"><div class=\"k\">Company<\/div><div class=\"v\">TikTok<\/div><\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"kv\"><div class=\"k\">Industry<\/div><div class=\"v\">Content Creators, Content Discovery<\/div><\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"kv\"><div class=\"k\">Location<\/div><div class=\"v\">San Jose, CA<\/div><\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"kv\"><div class=\"k\">Work model<\/div><div class=\"v\">On Site<\/div><\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"kv\"><div class=\"k\">Pay<\/div><div class=\"v\">$$60-$$60 \/hr<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n      <div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n      <a class=\"btn btnPrimary\" style=\"width:100%;justify-content:center\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeattiktok.com\/earlycareers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n        Apply on company site \u2197\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/aside>\r\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) &#8211; 2026 Start (PhD) TikTok \u00b7 Content Creators, Content Discovery \ud83d\udccd San Jose, CA \ud83c\udfe2 On Site \ud83d\udcb0 $$60-$$60 \/hr Apply on company site \u2197 About this internship TikTok is hiring a Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) for a 2026 PhD start, based on-site in San Jose, CA. This internship [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-no-separators","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[357],"tags":[362,525,526,358,424,527],"class_list":["post-17507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-internship","tag-ca","tag-content-creators","tag-content-discovery","tag-on-site","tag-san-jose","tag-tiktok"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"wp_review_large":false,"wp_review_small":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Career Team","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/author\/magic\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) &#8211; 2026 Start (PhD) TikTok \u00b7 Content Creators, Content Discovery \ud83d\udccd San Jose, CA \ud83c\udfe2 On Site \ud83d\udcb0 $$60-$$60 \/hr Apply on company site \u2197 About this internship TikTok is hiring a Software Engineer Intern (Recommendation Infrastructure) for a 2026 PhD start, based on-site in San Jose, CA. This internship&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/jobs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}