Join us as we inspire
creativity and bring joy to
millions of users worldwide.
@2026 TikTok
Responsibilities
About the team Our team supports platform behind TikTok’s AIGC and effects submission pipelines. We develop and operate the tools and workflow runtime that internal creators, effect designers, and AI/ML teams use to compose, monitor, and debug complex AI workflows — from model inference chains to asset processing and publishing. As a Tech Lead Software Engineer, you will own full‑stack features in our workflow related services. You’ll work closely with product managers, designers, and AI/ML engineers to turn ambiguous creator and platform needs into reliable tools that make shipping AI‑powered effects project fast, safe, and enjoyable. Responsibilities - Own end‑to‑end development of key features in our workflow editor and related services – from problem discovery and design, to implementation, rollout, and long‑term maintenance. - Design and build full‑stack product experiences for the editor, including rich graph‑based UI (React/TypeScript or similar) and backend services (Go or equivalent) that orchestrate workflow execution, scheduling, and state management. - Collaborate with AI/ML platform teams to integrate models and pipelines (e.g., LLMs, diffusion, vision models) into reusable workflow nodes, with clear contracts, versioning, and observability. - Build internal tooling for debugging and operating workflows: run history, logs & metrics, replay, tracing, and guardrail/safety controls surfaced in the editor. - Partner with product and data/ML teams to design experiments and evaluation flows around workflows (e.g., offline metrics, staged rollout, A/B experiments) and fold the results back into product decisions. - Improve the reliability, performance, and usability of the editor and backend services through systematic instrumentation, alerting, on‑call participation, and regular post‑mortems. - Work closely with designers to refine interaction patterns for complex graph editing, parameter configuration, and status visualization, balancing power and simplicity. - Contribute to the overall roadmap of the workflow platform, identifying reusable abstractions and collaborating with other teams that depend on workflow capabilities.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualification(s): - Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience with 5+ years of professional software engineering experience building production systems end‑to‑end; at least 2 years working on AI/ML‑powered or data‑intensive products, platforms, or tools. - Strong software engineering fundamentals: data structures & algorithms, system design, testing, and code quality. - Solid backend experience in Go or another typed language (e.g., Java/Scala/C++), including designing and operating APIs/services, working with relational and/or NoSQL databases, and building reliable distributed systems. - Hands‑on experience with modern web front‑end technologies (TypeScript/JavaScript, React or similar frameworks), including building complex interactive UIs and integrating them with backend APIs. - Practical experience integrating ML/LLM capabilities into products or tools: calling model APIs, handling latency/reliability trade‑offs, and working with logs/metrics for quality monitoring. - Experience working closely with product managers, designers, and ML/data partners to define requirements and iterate quickly based on user feedback. - Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical trade‑offs and AI behavior to non‑specialists. Preferred Qualification(s): - Experience building workflow editors or node‑based tools (e.g., low‑code editors, DAG/workflow UIs, graph‑based editors, or tools built with React Flow or similar libraries). - Experience with ML/LLM workflow and orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow/Prefect/Dagster on the data side; LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, or equivalent on the application/agent side). - Experience building internal platforms or tools for ML/AI teams, such as evaluation platforms, prompt/agent sandboxes, or observability tools for AI systems. - Familiarity with applied LLM patterns such as RAG, tool‑calling, multi‑step agents, and evaluation techniques (including offline metrics and LLM‑as‑a‑judge‑style workflows). - Experience working with AIGC pipelines (e.g., image/video generation, compositing, or effect processing) or creative tooling is a strong plus. - Experience operating services in a cloud environment (e.g., Kubernetes‑based deployments, monitoring/alerting stacks, on‑call ownership). - Prior 0→1 or early‑stage builder experience (e.g., startup, internal incubation team, or founding engineer roles) with a track record of shipping ambiguous projects.
Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $208800 - $438000 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.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Why Join Us
Inspiring creativity is at the core of TikTok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we work towards every day.
We strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team. We're resilient and embrace challenges as they come. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
TikTok Accommodation
TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at https://tinyurl.com/RA-request