Applied Scientist, Search, E-Commerce Alliance

$129,200 - $194,750/Yr

Tiktok - Seattle, WA

Full-time - Entry Level

Seattle, WA

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services

About the position

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video, with a mission to inspire creativity and bring joy. The e-commerce alliance team is dedicated to serving merchants and creators within the e-commerce platform, aiming to enhance merchants' business indicators and improve creators' creative efficiency. By collaborating with merchants and creators, the team strives to deliver high-quality content and a personalized shopping experience for TikTok users, while also creating efficient shopping tools at seller centers and fostering cooperation between merchants and creators. We are seeking an Applied Scientist to join our Global E-Commerce Alliance Team. This role involves driving innovative and practical solutions that will significantly impact our search system through the application of machine learning models. The Applied Scientist will work closely with cross-functional teams, influencing decision-making across various departments within the business. The ideal candidate will possess strong expertise in machine learning and will be adept at leveraging this knowledge to enhance our search systems. In this position, the Applied Scientist will be responsible for developing and implementing advanced machine learning algorithms to improve search and recommendation systems. This includes defining the scope and designing end-to-end machine learning models, analyzing complex and large-scale data to extract insights, and creating, testing, implementing, and iterating on machine learning models to optimize search functions and enhance user experience. Staying current with the latest developments in machine learning and search systems is crucial, as is the ability to present complex findings to a non-technical audience and influence decision-making. Adherence to strict data governance and privacy policies is essential to ensure the responsible handling of user data.

Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with cross-functional teams to develop and implement advanced machine learning algorithms to improve the search and recommendation systems.
• Define the scope and design end-to-end machine learning models for search systems.
• Analyze complex, large-scale data to extract insights and to identify potential areas where our search system can be improved.
• Create, test, implement, and iterate on machine learning models to optimize search functions and improve the user experience.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in machine learning and search systems.
• Present complex findings and algorithms to a non-technical audience and influence decision-making.
• Follow strict data governance and privacy policies to ensure that user data is handled with the utmost care.

Requirements

• PhD, Master or Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related quantitative field.
• Extensive experience in machine learning, deep learning, data mining, or artificial intelligence.
• Strong programming skills in Python, C++, Java, GO, or similar.
• Strong knowledge of search algorithms, information retrieval, and ranking systems.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex concepts to a non-technical audience.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques.
• Proven modeling/algorithms competition records on Kaggle or top conferences' challenges.
• Proven programming competition records on ICPC, IOI or USACO.
• Experience working with recommendation systems, computational advertising, search engine, E-commerce search systems.
• Publication records in machine learning or related conferences or journals is a plus.

Benefits

• 100% premium coverage for employee medical insurance, approximately 75% premium coverage for dependents, and a Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company match.
• Dental, Vision, Short/Long term Disability, Basic Life, Voluntary Life and AD&D insurance plans.
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Options like Health Care, Limited Purpose and Dependent Care.
• 10 paid holidays per year plus 17 days of Paid Personal Time Off (PPTO) (prorated upon hire and increased by tenure) and 10 paid sick days per year.
• 12 weeks of paid Parental leave and 8 weeks of paid Supplemental Disability.
• Mental and emotional health benefits through our EAP and Lyra.
• 401K company match, gym and cellphone service reimbursements.