Software Engineer Graduate; AI Infra Compute PhD

Software Engineer Graduate (AI Infra Compute) - 2026 Start (PhD)

Location:

Seattle

Team:
Technology

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Code: A108005A

• Develop key technologies to optimize our AI Infra stack, including training infra, inference infra, and AI agents.
• Work with academia and open source communities on joint development.
• Follow the latest technologies from academia or industry and conduct deep-dive analysis.
• Present our research and products in academic papers.

• PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience with at least one of the following areas: LLM training infra, including optimizations for various post‑training workloads such as RL training, knowledge distillation, etc.
• LLM inference infra, including inference engine performance improvements, more efficient execution parallelism, GPU kernel optimizations, etc.
• AI Agent Infra, including computer‑use agents, coding agents, agent memory, agent sandbox, etc.
• Commit to proactive continuous learning, demonstrate enthusiasm for AI technologies, and exhibit a strong ability to quickly grasp and apply new technologies.
• Good communication and teamwork skills.

• Frequent contributors or maintainers in AI Infra related open source communities such as vLLM or SGLang.
• Having top tier CS conference publications such as OSDI or MLSys.

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $129,960 - $246,240 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;
• Exercising sound judgment.

By submitting an application for this role, you accept and agree to our global applicant privacy policy, which may be accessed here:

Founded in 2012, Byte Dance's mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. With a suite of more than a dozen products, including Tik Tok, Lemon8, Cap Cut and Pico as well as platforms specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, Byte Dance has made it easier and more fun for people to connect with, consume, and create content.

Inspiring creativity is at the core of Byte Dance'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…