Machine Learning Engineer, TikTok Content Recommendation (Ecosystem & Cold-Start)
TikTok
San Jose, CA · Posted November 13, 2026
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More in California job market · Machine Learning Engineer jobs in San Jose, CA (37) · All Machine Learning Engineer jobs (217) · Technology & Software · Data & Analytics jobs
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November 2026
- #1Best cities for marketing pay after cost of living$204k · of 16
- #1Best cities for aerospace and defense pay after cost of living$187k · of 19
- #2Best cities for security pay after cost of living$220k · of 10
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- Best cities for data and analytics jobs #1 New York (1,713 openings)
- Best cities for data and analytics pay after cost of living #1 Foster ($232k)
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- Employers with the most data and analytics jobs #1 Amazon (711 roles)
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Pay compared with the market
This listing does not state pay. Across 48 open machine learning engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $167,500 to $239,500 and the median is $199,000.
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How AI is used in this kind of work
Among computer occupations, all other, AI is already used for a large share of the tasks. Measured exposure for computer occupations, all other: 31% (high).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
TikTok has filed one layoff notice in the last twelve months, covering 250 workers, most recently August 2026. These are public filings with state labor departments, and an open role can sit alongside them. See the filings
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About the job
About the Team Our team is responsible for designing and optimizing TikTok's content distribution and author growth mechanism to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of TikTok's content ecosystem. Our work involves optimizing large-scale recommendation algorithms, solving optimization problems with complex constraints, designing and implementing recommendation architectures for various scenarios, and conducting complex and in-depth analyses of product data. Here, you can drive deeper into the improvement and optimization of machine learning/deep learning algorithms, including but not limited to Mathematics, CV/NLP technology, multi-task learning, multi-modal technology, meta-learning, reinforcement learning, causal inference, metric learning, graph neural networks, active learning, life long learning, etc.
Responsibilities - What You'II Do - Build industry-leading recommendation system, improving user experience, the content ecosystem and platform security; - Deliver end-to-end machine learning solution to address critical product challenges; - Own the full stack machine learning system and optimize algorithms and infrastructure to improve recommendation performance. - Work with cross functional teams to design product strategies and build solutions to grow TikTok in important markets.
Minimum Qualifications - Bachelor degree or above in computer science or a related major, with 2+ years of related work experience; - Strong software development experience with C++, Python or other programming language; - Experience in one or more of the following areas: applied machine learning, machine learning infrastructure, large-scale recommendation system, market-facing machine learning product; - Strong communication and teamwork skills; - Passion about techniques and solving challenging problems.