Research Engineer Jobs at ByteDance with Visa Sponsorship
Research Engineer jobs at ByteDance span machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and recommendation systems. The company actively sponsors work visas for this function, supporting candidates through the full process from initial offer through long-term status.
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Get Access To All JobsLOCATION
Location:
Seattle
TEAM
Team:
Infrastructure
EMPLOYMENT TYPE
Employment Type:
Intern
JOB CODE
Job Code:
A76146
ABOUT THE TEAM
Join ByteDance’s database R&D team, where you’ll build and own cutting-edge database products supporting ByteDance’s global infrastructure. Our diverse portfolio includes relational databases, distributed caches, key-value stores, document databases, graph databases, wide-column stores, search engines, and multi-model databases.
ABOUT THE ROLE
We are building the next-generation AI-native database systems—intelligent, multimodal, and designed for the era of large models. Our systems are not just data stores; they’re reasoning engines, retrieval platforms, and real-time memory for AI agents. As a Software Engineer or Researcher, you will be at the forefront of rethinking how databases work when built from the ground up for AI workloads. You’ll help create infrastructure that powers intelligent systems across TikTok, CapCut, and future applications that haven’t been imagined yet.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship. PhD internships at Our Company provide students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, as well as to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies.
Our dynamic internship experience blends hands-on learning, enriching community-building and professional development events, and collaboration with industry experts.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early. Please clearly state your availability in your resume (Start date, End date).
Responsibilities
- Develop kernel modules or features for AI-native database systems.
- Solve unique, large-scale, highly complex cloud infrastructure problems.
- Partner with PMs and engineers from different teams on building backend support for AI-native database service products.
- Participate in technical discussions related to team's product and engineering work.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or other related discipline.
- Knowledge of database kernel, distributed system, query processing and optimization, multi-threaded programming.
- Experience coding in C/C++, Golang, Java, Python.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Demonstrated software engineering experience from previous internship, work experience, coding competitions, or publications.
- Curiosity towards new technologies and entrepreneurship.
- High levels of creativity and quick problem-solving capabilities.
- Experience with open-source systems such as Faiss, Milvus, DuckDB, ClickHouse, TiKV, RocksDB.
- Publications at conferences (e.g., SIGMOD, VLDB, NeurIPS, MLSys, ICDE).
- Familiarity with GCP, AWS, or Azure’s database and AI integration strategies.
- Prior contributions to RAG, memory-augmented models, or self-tuning database components.
COMPENSATION
- Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern:
The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $57 - $57.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. 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.
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:
-
Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
-
Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
-
Exercising sound judgment.
About us
Founded in 2012, ByteDance's mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. With a suite of more than a dozen products, including TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut and Pico as well as platforms specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, ByteDance has made it easier and more fun for people to connect with, consume, and create content.
WHY JOIN BYTEDANCE
Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance's mission. Our innovative products are 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 enrich life - a mission we work towards every day.
As ByteDancers, 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. 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
ByteDance 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 ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. 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.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
ByteDance 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
LOCATION
Location:
Seattle
TEAM
Team:
Infrastructure
EMPLOYMENT TYPE
Employment Type:
Intern
JOB CODE
Job Code:
A76146
ABOUT THE TEAM
Join ByteDance’s database R&D team, where you’ll build and own cutting-edge database products supporting ByteDance’s global infrastructure. Our diverse portfolio includes relational databases, distributed caches, key-value stores, document databases, graph databases, wide-column stores, search engines, and multi-model databases.
ABOUT THE ROLE
We are building the next-generation AI-native database systems—intelligent, multimodal, and designed for the era of large models. Our systems are not just data stores; they’re reasoning engines, retrieval platforms, and real-time memory for AI agents. As a Software Engineer or Researcher, you will be at the forefront of rethinking how databases work when built from the ground up for AI workloads. You’ll help create infrastructure that powers intelligent systems across TikTok, CapCut, and future applications that haven’t been imagined yet.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship. PhD internships at Our Company provide students with the opportunity to actively contribute to our products and research, as well as to the organization's future plans and emerging technologies.
Our dynamic internship experience blends hands-on learning, enriching community-building and professional development events, and collaboration with industry experts.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early. Please clearly state your availability in your resume (Start date, End date).
Responsibilities
- Develop kernel modules or features for AI-native database systems.
- Solve unique, large-scale, highly complex cloud infrastructure problems.
- Partner with PMs and engineers from different teams on building backend support for AI-native database service products.
- Participate in technical discussions related to team's product and engineering work.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or other related discipline.
- Knowledge of database kernel, distributed system, query processing and optimization, multi-threaded programming.
- Experience coding in C/C++, Golang, Java, Python.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Demonstrated software engineering experience from previous internship, work experience, coding competitions, or publications.
- Curiosity towards new technologies and entrepreneurship.
- High levels of creativity and quick problem-solving capabilities.
- Experience with open-source systems such as Faiss, Milvus, DuckDB, ClickHouse, TiKV, RocksDB.
- Publications at conferences (e.g., SIGMOD, VLDB, NeurIPS, MLSys, ICDE).
- Familiarity with GCP, AWS, or Azure’s database and AI integration strategies.
- Prior contributions to RAG, memory-augmented models, or self-tuning database components.
COMPENSATION
- Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern:
The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $57 - $57.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. 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.
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:
-
Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
-
Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
-
Exercising sound judgment.
About us
Founded in 2012, ByteDance's mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. With a suite of more than a dozen products, including TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut and Pico as well as platforms specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, ByteDance has made it easier and more fun for people to connect with, consume, and create content.
WHY JOIN BYTEDANCE
Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance's mission. Our innovative products are 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 enrich life - a mission we work towards every day.
As ByteDancers, 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. 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
ByteDance 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 ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. 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.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
ByteDance 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
See all Research Engineer Jobs at ByteDance
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Research Engineer Jobs at ByteDance.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Research Engineer Jobs at ByteDance
Align your research focus to ByteDance's core products
ByteDance Research Engineers work on TikTok ranking systems, DouYin recommendation algorithms, and large language model infrastructure. Framing your CV and interview narrative around these applied research areas signals fit beyond a generic ML background.
Prepare your publication record before applying
ByteDance Research Engineer roles routinely require demonstrated research output. Compile your published papers, preprints, and conference presentations early. USCIS scrutinizes specialty occupation evidence closely for research titles, so a clear record of peer-reviewed work strengthens both your application and the employer's H-1B petition.
Clarify which visa type your offer covers
ByteDance sponsors H-1B, H-1B1 visa, and E-3 visas for Research Engineers. If you're Australian or Chilean, confirm with your recruiter whether they'll file under your treaty-specific category, since processing and renewal paths differ materially from a standard H-1B.
Understand the H-1B lottery timeline before accepting an offer
H-1B registration opens in March for an October 1 start date. If your offer arrives after the lottery closes, ask whether cap-exempt filing through a university affiliation or a change-of-status bridge is available while you wait for the next cycle.
Use Migrate Mate to filter Research Engineer roles at ByteDance
Sponsorship-specific job boards remove the guesswork of which postings are open to visa candidates. Use Migrate Mate to filter ByteDance Research Engineer openings by visa type so you're only pursuing roles where sponsorship is confirmed before you apply.
Track your I-140 approval if you're targeting a Green Card
ByteDance files EB-2 and EB-3 PERM labor certifications for Research Engineers pursuing permanent residence. Getting your I-140 approved as early as possible locks in your priority date, which is critical for Indian and Chinese nationals facing long backlogs in the employment-based queue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ByteDance sponsor H-1B visas for Research Engineers?
Yes, ByteDance sponsors H-1B visas for Research Engineer roles. The company files cap-subject petitions through the annual USCIS lottery, with an October 1 start date for selected candidates. If you're already in H-1B status with another employer, a transfer petition can be filed at any point in the year without waiting for the next lottery cycle.
Which visa types does ByteDance commonly use for Research Engineer roles?
ByteDance uses H-1B, H-1B1 visa, and E-3 visas for Research Engineers depending on your nationality. Australian citizens can pursue the E-3, which has a dedicated annual allocation and no lottery. Chilean nationals may qualify for the H-1B1. For permanent residence, ByteDance also files EB-2 and EB-3 Green Card petitions for Research Engineers through the PERM labor certification process.
What qualifications does ByteDance expect for Research Engineer roles?
Most ByteDance Research Engineer positions require a graduate degree in computer science, machine learning, electrical engineering, or a closely related field. A PhD is preferred for roles focused on foundational model research, while MS-level candidates are competitive for applied research and systems work. Publications at venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, or ACL carry significant weight in the selection process.
How do I apply for Research Engineer jobs at ByteDance?
Browse open Research Engineer positions on Migrate Mate to find ByteDance roles that explicitly support visa sponsorship. When applying, tailor your CV to highlight research output, relevant system-scale projects, and alignment with ByteDance's product areas such as recommendation systems, vision, or language modeling. Referrals from current ByteDance employees can accelerate recruiter review.
How do I plan my timeline if I'm applying for a ByteDance Research Engineer role on OPT or CPT?
If you're on F-1 OPT, confirm your OPT expiration date against the H-1B lottery calendar. ByteDance will need to register you in the March lottery for an October 1 start. If your OPT expires before October, a timely H-1B filing can trigger cap-gap protection, extending your authorized work period through September 30 while the petition is pending at USCIS.