Research Scientist Graduate; AI-Native database systems PhD

Research Scientist Graduate, (AI-Native database systems)- 2026 Start (PhD)

Location:

Seattle

Team:

Infrastructure

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Code:

A80362A

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We are looking for talented individuals to join us in 2026. As a graduate, you will get unparalleled opportunities for you to kickstart your career, pursue bold ideas and explore limitless growth opportunities. Co-created a future driven by your inspiration with Byte Dance.

Candidates can apply to a maximum of two positions and will be considered for jobs in the order you apply. The application limit is applicable to Byte Dance and its affiliates' job globally. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis - we encourage you to apply early.

About the Team:
Join Byte Dance’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 Senior 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 Tik Tok, Cap Cut, and future applications that haven’t been imagined yet.

• Architect and implement AI‑native databases that seamlessly integrate structured, unstructured, and vectorized data.
• Design storage engines optimized for embedding ingestion, multimodal retrieval, and real‑time AI interaction.
• Build scalable and distributed vector search systems with low‑latency guarantees.
• Develop AI‑augmented query processors that leverage large language models (LLMs) for semantic parsing, intent understanding, and cost estimation.
• Collaborate on developing retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) infrastructure and LLM agent memory back‑ends.
• Drive innovations in learned index structures, self‑optimizing databases, and AI‑integrated transaction systems.
• Publish and contribute to broader research and open‑source communities.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Computer Science or related fields with strong database systems or AI research experience.
• Strong coding and system‑level design skills in C++ / Rust / Go.
• Deep expertise in one or more of the following areas: storage engine architecture (LSM‑trees, column stores, HTAP systems) / vector retrieval systems, similarity search, and ANN indexing / AI infra or model‑serving infrastructure (especially for embeddings / RAG / LLMs) / semantic search, agent systems, or AI‑native memory frameworks.
• Ability to collaborate across research, engineering, and product teams to translate ideas into production systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Publications at top‑tier 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.

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.

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…