Research Scientist Graduate - Global E-commerce Content Recommendation - 2026 Start (PhD)

Responsibilities
Team Introduction Global E-Commerce Content Recommendation team plays a central role in the company, driving critical product decisions and platform growth. The team is made up of machine learning researchers and engineers, who support and innovate on production recommendation models and drive product impact. The team is fast-pacing, collaborative and impact-driven. In today's content-driven commerce landscape, traditional collaborative filtering and supervised learning methods are no longer sufficient. We're actively exploring how large language models (LLMs) and generative AI can fundamentally transform the recommendation process: from retrieval to ranking, and from static listings to dynamic, generative user-item interactions. We are looking for talented individuals to join our team in 2026. As a graduate, you will get unparalleled opportunities for you to kickstart your career, pursue bold ideas and explore limitless growth opportunities. Co-create a future driven by your inspiration with TikTok. Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by end of year 2026 We will prioritize candidates who are able to commit to these start dates. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage you to apply early. Responsibilities - Design algorithms and systems that leverage LLMs and generative models for content-to-commerce matching, product summarization, etc - Explore novel architectures and strategies for generative recommendation systems - Contribute to the research community via internal papers, patents, or external publications - Drive scientific rigor while balancing real-world constraints
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications: - PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Statistics, or a related technical field - Experience with LLMs (e.g., GPT, LLaMA, PaLM) or diffusion/generative models, through research or practical application - Proficient coding skills in Python and hands-on experience with deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch - Demonstrated ability to conduct rigorous research and analyze large-scale data - Strong problem-solving skills and a high sense of ownership Preferred Qualifications: - Publications in top-tier ML/AI conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ACL, SIGIR, KDD, CVPR, RecSys) - Experience with recommendation systems, retrieval models, or multi-modal learning - Familiarity with building and deploying real-time, scalable ML systems in production - Background in e-commerce or related applied AI research domains By submitting an application for this role, you accept and agree to our global applicant privacy policy, which may be accessed here:
Job Information
(For Pay Transparency)Compensation Description (Annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $ - $ 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