Machine Learning Engineer, Search Ads - USDS

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. U.S. Data Security (“USDS”) is a subsidiary of TikTok in the U.S. This new, security-first division was created to bring heightened focus and governance to our data protection policies and content assurance protocols to keep U.S. users safe. Our focus is on providing oversight and protection of the TikTok platform and U.S. user data, so millions of Americans can continue turning to TikTok to learn something new, earn a living, express themselves creatively, or be entertained. The teams within USDS that deliver on this commitment daily span across Trust & Safety, Security & Privacy, Engineering, User & Product Ops, Corporate Functions and more.

Why Join Us
Creation is the core of TikTok's purpose. Our platform is built to help imaginations thrive. This is doubly true of the teams that make TikTok possible.
Together, we inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we all believe in and aim towards achieving every day.
To us, every challenge, no matter how difficult, is an opportunity; to learn, to innovate, and to grow as one team. Status quo? Never. Courage? Always.
At TikTok, we create together and grow together. That's how we drive impact - for ourselves, our company, and the communities we serve.
Join us.

The Search Ads team constantly pushes the boundaries of general search engine monetization across our apps, including TikTok, TopBuzz, BuzzVideo, and more, building a globally leading Search Ads monetization system. At the Search Ads team, you will have the chance to work on large-scale distributed storage and architecture, NLP, Rank, and IR related problems. You will be also deeply involved in the innovation and optimization of our Ad format, creative display, and the ROI of ads delivery. We are looking for candidates who brave difficulties, share a passion for tackling complexity and developing our Search Ads product from 0 to 1 with a world-class team of passionate engineers.

In order to enhance collaboration and cross-functional partnerships, among other things, at this time, our organization follows a hybrid work schedule that requires employees to work in the office 3 days a week, or as directed by their manager/department. We regularly review our hybrid work model, and the specific requirements may change at any time.

Responsibilities:
Participate in the development of a large-scale Ads system
• Responsible for relevance model and strategy optimization, such as semantic matching models, text/photo/video multi-model, ranking strategy, etc
• Participate in the development and iteration of Ads algorithms by using Machine Learning.
• Work on NLP (Natural Language Processing) capability improvement and query understanding, such as query classification, seq2seq, NER (Named Entity Recognition), knowledge graph, bidword optimization, etc
• Work on CTR/CVR model estimation accuracy, data analysis, modeling, feature engineering
• Research and develop Ads pacing algorithms, ads traffic control, etc
• Partner with product managers and product strategy & operation team to define product strategy and featuresQualification:
• BS degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or other relevant majors.
• Excellent programming, debugging, and optimization skills in general purpose programming languages
• Ability to think critically and to formulate solutions to problems in a clear and concise way.

Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience with one or more general purpose programming languages including but not limited to: Go, C/C++, Python.
• Good understanding in one of the following domains: ad fraud detection, risk control, quality control, adversarial engineering, and online advertising systems.
• Good knowledge in one of the following areas: machine learning, deep learning, backend, large-scale systems, data science, full-stack.

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 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 https://shorturl.at/ktJP6

This role requires the ability to work with and support systems designed to protect sensitive data and information. As such, this role will be subject to strict national security-related screening.