Software Engineer Intern ( Search Architecture)
TikTok
About the Role
TikTok Search is building the next-generation search experience for hundreds of millions of users around the world. Our team is responsible for developing and improving TikTok’s search engine, with the goal of helping users discover the most relevant, useful, and engaging content through search. We are actively exploring how to deeply integrate traditional search engine technologies with Large Language Models (LLMs) to enhance the TikTok Search experience and pioneer new search paradigms. You will have the opportunity to work on challenging problems at the intersection of information retrieval, machine learning, natural language understanding, recommendation systems, and large-scale distributed systems.
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.
Key Responsibilities
- Build and optimize search systems and features that serve hundreds of millions of users globally.
- Work on large-scale, complex technical problems in search quality, ranking, query understanding, retrieval, and system reliability.
- Explore the integration of search engine technologies and LLMs to improve user experience and search result relevance.
- Develop algorithms and systems that support next-generation search experiences and new search interaction paradigms.
- Collaborate with product managers, researchers, and engineers to understand user needs and translate them into scalable technical solutions.
- Apply modern machine learning, information retrieval, NLP, and LLM techniques to improve search quality and user perception.
Minimum Qualifications
- Currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline.
- Solid foundation in computer science fundamentals, with strong understanding of data structures, algorithms, and operating systems.
- Strong programming skills and good coding habits; experience with one or more programming languages such as C++, Python, Go, or Java.
- Strong curiosity, willingness to learn, and ability to quickly understand and solve complex technical problems.
- Good communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment.
- Able to commit to a 12-week internship in 2027.
Preferred Qualifications
- Currently pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline.
- Experience in search, recommendation systems, machine learning, NLP, LLMs, distributed systems, or related areas.
- Demonstrated software engineering experience through internships, research projects, open-source contributions, or publications.
- Award-winning experience in programming competitions such as ICPC, CCPC, NOI, IOI, or other comparable competitions is a plus.
- High levels of creativity, self-motivation, and strong problem-solving capability.
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.