Research Engineer - Intern (Video and Edge, Multimedia Lab) - 2027 Start (PhD) - Intern (Video and Edge, Multimedia Lab) - 2027 Start (PhD)

Location: San Diego, California, United States of America Department: R&D

The Multimedia Lab builds highly efficient, scalable video codec hardware solutions (FPGA and ASIC) from the ground up, serving billions of users. We bring together algorithm, architecture, software, firmware, and hardware design and verification expertise, designing high-performance video silicon IP across ASIC and SoC digital design, verification, and next-generation video codec hardware. Alongside the silicon work, we advance research in video understanding, perceptual quality assessment, image and video enhancement, and intelligent coding, including using multimodal models to improve coding decisions.

Quality, efficiency, and speed rarely improve together. Sharper images and better perceived quality usually cost bitrate, compute, or latency, and a technique that works in research does not always survive production at global scale.

You will take ideas from research through to silicon and production systems, where research decisions show up in the cost and quality of video across ByteDance's products.

About the team

Our Streaming Codec Team is dedicated to advancing cutting-edge research in multimedia, including but not limited to video compression, image processing, and video data processing, and translating these innovations into production-grade live-streaming systems. Our work directly supports large-scale products serving hundreds of millions of users worldwide. We are seeking exceptional PhD-level talent with deep expertise in video compression and processing, a strong record of research excellence, and the ambition to shape the future of realtime video technologies.

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.

Responsibilities

• Support the research and development of machine learning based video coding and processing technologies.
• Explore encoding and decoding framework optimizations for live-streaming use cases, with attention to latency, efficiency, and quality.
• Prototype and evaluate video encoding and processing algorithms on heterogeneous platforms.
• Conduct research on perceptual quality-oriented video coding and processing algorithms.
• Assist in benchmarking, profiling, debugging, and optimizing codec components and related systems.
• Prepare technical reports, experimental analyses, and interface documentation for encoder/decoder modules.
• Collaborate with research scientists and engineers to validate ideas and transfer promising results into production-oriented workflows.

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related technical field.
• Strong foundations in algorithms, data structures, computer systems, and software engineering.
• Good understanding of image/video compression fundamentals and related research topics.
• Strong programming and debugging skills in C/C++ or similar general-purpose programming languages.
• Solid analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Good written and verbal communication skills and a collaborative attitude.

Preferred Qualifications

• Research experience in video compression, image/video processing, multimedia systems, or realtime communications.
• Familiarity with one or more video coding standards such as AVS, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VVC, or AV1.
• Exposure to neural network-based image/video coding or visual processing methods.
• Familiarity with SIMD/NEON optimization, multithreading, or platform-specific performance tuning.
• Experience with live streaming, video conferencing, transcoding, or related video applications.
• Publications or submissions to top conferences or journals in multimedia, image processing, video coding, or related fields.
• Interest in bridging research innovation with practical product impact.