Tech Lead Manager, Research Engineer, TikTok AI Search (LLM Pretraining/Alignment/Inference) Tech Lead Manager, Research Engineer, TikTok AI Search (LLM Pretraining/Alignment/Inference)

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct research and develop state-of-the-art algorithms in various stages of LLM development, including continued pretraining, supervised fine-tuning (SFT), and Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF).
• Investigate and implement robust evaluation methodologies to assess model performance at various stages, understand underlying mechanisms, and utilize insights to drive improvements.
• Use inference stage techniques such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Chain of Thought (CoT), and Prompt Engineering to enhance model output.
• Improve the performance of AI Search within the TikTok app to provide a better search experience for users.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in computer science or a related technical discipline.
• Effective communication and teamwork skills.
• Proficient coding skills and strong understanding of algorithms and data structures.
• 3+ years of related industry experience (preferred).
• Experience in NLP, LLM, RL, or related fields (preferred).
• Experience with data-driven methods to enhance LLM capabilities (preferred).
• Experience with RAG, Prompt Engineering, or other inference-time methods (preferred).
• Candidates with top-tier conference papers, relevant internship experience, or winners of ACM competitions are preferred.

Nice to Have

• Experience in one or more of the following areas: NLP, LLM, RL.
• Experience in using data-driven methods to improve LLMs.
• Experience with inference time techniques such as RAG and Prompt Engineering.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or higher degree in a relevant technical discipline.
• Effective communication and teamwork skills.
• Proficient coding skills and strong algorithm and data structure knowledge.

Benefits & Perks

• Annual base salary range of $288,000 - $560,000, with potential bonuses, incentives, and stock units.
• Employee benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance from day one.
• 401(k) savings plan with company match.
• Paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and wellbeing benefits.
• 10 paid holidays, 10 paid sick days, and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire).
• Hybrid work environment and support for employee well-being through programs like EAP and Headspace.