Research Engineer, Machine Learning - TikTok Privacy Innovation Lab

$137,750 - $237,500/Yr

Tiktok - Seattle, WA

Full-time - Mid 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 Privacy Innovation Lab (PI Lab) at TikTok is dedicated to exploring the next frontier of privacy technology and theory in the digitalized world. The lab aims to provide key insights and technical solutions on privacy-related innovation for all TikTok products, collaborating with global technical and academic communities to promote a privacy-friendly digital experience. As a member of the PI Lab, you will have the opportunity to research advanced privacy technology and theory alongside influential researchers, tackling critical industrial challenges related to privacy innovation that serve billions of TikTok users by applying cutting-edge technology. In this role, you will participate in the construction of a multi-party joint modeling and data analysis platform, working closely with product teams to understand key privacy requirements from the TikTok product family. You will convert research outcomes into technical solutions and product prototypes, and collaborate with research teams on complex experiments that require optimized algorithms running on large datasets or sophisticated data processing. Additionally, you will build open-source tools and infrastructure for privacy-related research and engage with community contributors at external events such as meetups, hackathons, and summits.

Responsibilities

• Participate in the construction of a multi-party joint modeling and data analysis platform
• Work with product teams to understand key privacy requirements from TikTok product family and convert research outcomes into technical solutions and product prototypes
• Collaborate with research teams for complex experiments requiring optimized algorithms running on large datasets or sophisticated data processing
• Build open-source tools and infrastructure for privacy-related research and engage with community contributors in external events including meetups, hackathons, and summits.

Requirements

• PhD or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or 3+ years of experience working in related fields
• Familiar with federated learning / distributed machine learning algorithms and experienced in federated learning frameworks and applications development
• Familiar with machine learning and deep learning frameworks, like TensorFlow, Pytorch, JAX
• Interest in privacy-enhanced techniques (PET) and related technical domains, including data and identity anonymization, differential privacy, secure multi-party computation, federated machine learning, on-device machine learning, interpretable AI, privacy-preserving technology for large language models (LLM) or foundation models, privacy-preserving regulation technology, etc.
• Proficiency in at least one of the following programming languages: Go, C++, Python, Rust, Java
• Ability to work globally and collaboratively within a team.

Benefits

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