Research Scientist - Data and State Acceleration - Global Frontier Tech Recruitment Program - 2027 Start (PhD)

- Collaborate with ML platform teams to support PyTorch-based model training workflows and design efficient data formats and access patterns for large-scale samples and features.
- Own core components of our distributed storage and processing stack, from file format to stream compaction to metadata management.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualification(s):
- Individuals who are completing or recently completed a PhD in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Experience building large-scale distributed systems, preferably in storage, stream processing, or ML infrastructure.
- Understanding of Apache Flink internals, with hands-on experience in state management, connectors, or UDFs.
- Familiarity with modern Lakehouse technologies such as Apache Paimon, Iceberg, Delta Lake, or Hudi, especially around incremental ingestion, schema evolution, and snapshot isolation.

Preferred Qualification(s):
- Experience in designing and optimizing Flink + Paimon architectures for unified batch/stream processing.
- Familiarity with feature storage and training data pipelines, and their integration with PyTorch, especially for large-scale model training.
- Knowledge of columnar file formats (Parquet, ORC, Lance) and how they are used in feature engineering or ML data loading.
- Proficiency in Java/Scala/C++, and strong debugging/performance tuning ability.
- Previous experience in Lakehouse metadata management, compaction scheduling, or data versioning.
- Knowledge of legacy data stores like HBase/Kudu.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $156000 - $387600 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.

Client-provided location(s): San Jose, CA

Job ID: TikTok-7629234781608724741

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2026-04-17T20:43:46