STEM OPT Generative AI Engineer Jobs
Generative AI Engineer roles qualify for the 24-month STEM OPT extension when your degree falls under an eligible CIP code in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related STEM field. Your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify, and you'll need a signed I-983 training plan in place before your extension start date.
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Get Access To All JobsResponsibilities
We are looking for talented individuals to join our team. As a graduate, you will get opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock limitless growth. Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by the end of the year. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume.
About The Team
The Intelligent Creation – Global GenAI team focuses on applied research in Generative AI, delivering intelligent creation solutions for the TikTok platform. Our mission is to empower users to create and share high-quality content with ease. The team works on cutting-edge areas including multimodal foundation models, image and video generation and editing, efficient model design, and world models.
About The Role
With rapid advances in AGI and foundation models, multimodal content creation across text, image, and video is undergoing a fundamental transformation. This role focuses on building next-generation multimodal and agentic foundation models that enable intelligent, efficient, and end-to-end creative workflows. You will work on full-modal understanding, AIGC-based image and video generation, and agentic systems, optimizing models through large-scale training and post-training (e.g., SFT, RL). The role also involves designing efficient model architectures and advancing reinforcement learning techniques to improve model capability, scalability, and real-world performance in creation scenarios.
Responsibilities
- Conduct research and development in generative AI and multimodal models (e.g., image, video).
- Develop large-scale foundation models (LLMs/VLMs), through post-training techniques.
- Design and build models for creative applications on the TikTok platform, driving end-to-end impact from research to production through cross-functional collaboration.
- Explore new AI-driven product opportunities and contribute to next-generation creative experiences.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Individuals who are completing or have recently completed a PhD degree in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline
- Proficiency in training generative AI or large models using frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX.
- Strong programming skills and solid fundamentals in machine learning.
- Strong problem-solving ability and motivation to tackle real-world challenges.
- Good communication and collaboration skills in fast-paced environments.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Strong research background in one or more areas: generative AI, LLMs/VLMs, or ML systems.
- Hands-on experience in at least one of the following areas: Image/video generation and editing; VLM/LLM fine-tuning; Efficient model design and optimization; Reinforcement learning methods (e.g., RLHF, DPO, GRPO)
- Track record of research publications in conferences such as CVPR, ECCV, ICCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, SIGGRAPH, or SIGGRAPH Asia.
Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $241680 - $456000 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:
- 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 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
Responsibilities
We are looking for talented individuals to join our team. As a graduate, you will get opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock limitless growth. Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by the end of the year. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume.
About The Team
The Intelligent Creation – Global GenAI team focuses on applied research in Generative AI, delivering intelligent creation solutions for the TikTok platform. Our mission is to empower users to create and share high-quality content with ease. The team works on cutting-edge areas including multimodal foundation models, image and video generation and editing, efficient model design, and world models.
About The Role
With rapid advances in AGI and foundation models, multimodal content creation across text, image, and video is undergoing a fundamental transformation. This role focuses on building next-generation multimodal and agentic foundation models that enable intelligent, efficient, and end-to-end creative workflows. You will work on full-modal understanding, AIGC-based image and video generation, and agentic systems, optimizing models through large-scale training and post-training (e.g., SFT, RL). The role also involves designing efficient model architectures and advancing reinforcement learning techniques to improve model capability, scalability, and real-world performance in creation scenarios.
Responsibilities
- Conduct research and development in generative AI and multimodal models (e.g., image, video).
- Develop large-scale foundation models (LLMs/VLMs), through post-training techniques.
- Design and build models for creative applications on the TikTok platform, driving end-to-end impact from research to production through cross-functional collaboration.
- Explore new AI-driven product opportunities and contribute to next-generation creative experiences.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Individuals who are completing or have recently completed a PhD degree in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline
- Proficiency in training generative AI or large models using frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX.
- Strong programming skills and solid fundamentals in machine learning.
- Strong problem-solving ability and motivation to tackle real-world challenges.
- Good communication and collaboration skills in fast-paced environments.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Strong research background in one or more areas: generative AI, LLMs/VLMs, or ML systems.
- Hands-on experience in at least one of the following areas: Image/video generation and editing; VLM/LLM fine-tuning; Efficient model design and optimization; Reinforcement learning methods (e.g., RLHF, DPO, GRPO)
- Track record of research publications in conferences such as CVPR, ECCV, ICCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, SIGGRAPH, or SIGGRAPH Asia.
Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $241680 - $456000 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:
- 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 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
See all STEM OPT Generative AI Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new STEM OPT Generative AI Engineer Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding STEM OPT Authorization as a Generative AI Engineer
Verify your CIP code before applying
Check your degree's Classification of Instructional Programs code against the DHS STEM designated degree program list before targeting roles. Computer science, computer engineering, and applied mathematics codes are the most common matches for Generative AI Engineer positions, but data science and statistics codes qualify too.
Confirm E-Verify enrollment before negotiating offers
Run every prospective employer through the E-Verify employer search tool before you reach the offer stage. Startups and smaller AI labs frequently aren't enrolled, and discovering this after a verbal offer costs you time you don't have on a ticking OPT clock.
Build an I-983 training plan around your ML stack
Draft your I-983 training objectives around specific model architectures, fine-tuning pipelines, and deployment frameworks you'll work with. Vague goals like 'gain AI experience' invite DSO pushback; tying objectives to measurable deliverables like production model releases makes approval faster.
Target employers with active H-1B filing history
Use Migrate Mate to filter Generative AI Engineer roles by employers with verified DOL Labor Condition Application filings. Companies that have sponsored H-1B visa petitions in AI and machine learning roles are structurally set up to support your OPT-to-H-1B transition and understand the filing timeline.
Use OFLC Wage Search to anchor your salary ask
Look up the prevailing wage for your specific SOC code and geographic area in the OFLC Wage Search before any compensation conversation. Employers filing an LCA must meet that wage floor, so knowing it prevents you from inadvertently negotiating below what they're legally required to pay.
Submit your STEM OPT extension application 90 days early
USCIS allows you to file your STEM OPT extension up to 90 days before your current EAD expires. Filing on day one of that window protects your cap-gap coverage if your H-1B is selected in the lottery before your extension is adjudicated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Generative AI Engineer role qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
Yes, if your degree is in an eligible STEM field such as computer science, electrical engineering, data science, or applied mathematics. The role itself doesn't trigger eligibility; your degree's CIP code does. Confirm your code appears on the DHS STEM designated degree program list before applying for the extension through your DSO.
What E-Verify requirement applies to my STEM OPT employer?
Your employer must be actively enrolled in E-Verify before your STEM OPT extension start date. Enrollment isn't the same as participation in a past hiring cycle; you need to confirm current active status. If the employer isn't enrolled, they can't lawfully employ you on a STEM OPT extension, regardless of how the offer is structured.
What goes into an I-983 training plan for a Generative AI Engineer?
The I-983 must describe specific learning objectives tied to your STEM degree, the supervision structure, and how the role provides practical training in your field. For a Generative AI Engineer, that means documenting work with large language models, training pipelines, evaluation frameworks, or deployment infrastructure in concrete terms. Both you and your employer sign it, and your DSO reviews it before submission.
How does cap-gap protection work if my H-1B is selected during my STEM OPT extension?
If your STEM OPT EAD is still valid when your H-1B petition is filed before April 1 and you're selected in the lottery, cap-gap automatically extends your work authorization through September 30. You don't file anything separately for cap-gap; it's triggered by the timely filed H-1B petition. USCIS issues guidance on cap-gap each fiscal year cycle.
Where can I find Generative AI Engineer jobs at E-Verify enrolled employers?
Migrate Mate filters Generative AI Engineer listings by employers with verified DOL LCA filing history, which signals both E-Verify enrollment and prior experience sponsoring work authorization. That lets you focus your applications on companies already equipped to support your STEM OPT timeline rather than discovering compliance gaps after a hiring process.