Software Engineer Intern (Global… at TikTok · Seattle

Summary: TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video, and they are seeking a Software Engineer Intern for their Global E-commerce Search team. The intern will work on a well-scoped project, collaborating with engineers to enhance product discovery on TikTok Shop.

Responsibilities:
- Design and implement a scoped feature or system component with guidance from your mentor
- Write clear, maintainable, and tested production code in languages such as C++, Go, Java, or Python
- Participate in design discussions, code reviews, testing, documentation, and launch-readiness reviews
- Use metrics and benchmarks to evaluate system quality, such as latency, throughput, reliability, freshness, or search relevance
- Investigate technical issues, identify root causes, and propose practical improvements
- Present your work and results to the team at the end of the internship

Required Qualifications:
- Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related technical field
- Able to work full-time for 12 consecutive weeks
- Programming experience in at least one general-purpose language, such as C++, Go, Java, or Python
- Understanding of data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented or modular software design
- Ability to communicate effectively and work collaboratively in a team environment

Preferred Qualifications:
- Coursework, research, personal projects, open-source contributions, or prior internships involving software systems
- Search or information-retrieval concepts, such as inverted indexes, BM25, learning-to-rank, vector search, FAISS, or HNSW
- Distributed systems, databases, storage systems, or data-processing frameworks such as Kafka, Flink, or Spark
- AI or machine-learning infrastructure, model serving, retrieval-augmented generation, or agentic systems
- Performance analysis, debugging, Linux development, or competitive programming

Required Skills: C++, Go, Java, Python, Data Structures, Algorithms, Object-Oriented Design, Modular Software Design, Inverted Indexes, BM25, Learning-to-Rank, Vector Search, FAISS, HNSW, Distributed Systems, Databases, Kafka, Flink, Spark, AI Infrastructure, Machine Learning Infrastructure, Model Serving, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Linux Development, Performance Analysis, Debugging

Internship Start Date: Start in 2027 Fall

Benefits: Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more., Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year, And paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year)., Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.