AML Senior Strategy Specialist - USDS

Responsibilities
About the Team
The USDS Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) team is at the forefront of safeguarding TikTok's operations against financial crime. We are responsible for overseeing and operationalizing all aspects of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Sanctions Compliance for TikTok USDS. Collaborating cross-functionally with stakeholders across the U.S. and globally, we tackle complex and cutting-edge challenges, including the identification of money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions violations at scale. We seek a highly motivated, experienced, and dynamic professional to join our team, contributing directly to the integrity and safety of our platform.

To foster strong collaboration and cross-functional partnerships, our organization currently operates on a hybrid work schedule requiring employees to work in the office 3 days a week, or as directed by their manager/department. We regularly review our hybrid work model, and specific requirements may evolve.

Responsibilities
- Lead the assessment, support, and optimization of data analytics and performance for our core financial crime systems. This involves close collaboration with data science and engineering teams to evaluate system features, data feeds, and usage, identifying implementation gaps, necessary controls, and ensuring alignment with our risk appetite.
- Maintain and enhance assigned FCC systems, leveraging deep technical expertise to proactively anticipate issues, develop innovative improvements, and ensure robust system stability and efficiency.
- Provide specialized systems expertise and support to internal clients, addressing ad-hoc reporting needs and ongoing system maintenance requirements effectively.
- Drive all aspects of data and functional testing for AML and Sanctions monitoring systems, with a strong focus on effective tuning and adherence to global standards.
- Continuously monitor and rigorously assess the performance of AML and Sanctions systems using advanced data analytics tools, contributing critical insights to key Management Information (MI) reports.
- Lead the end-to-end design, rigorous testing, and precise tuning of new Transaction Monitoring scenarios. Proactively evaluate and improve existing scenarios to ensure accurate behavioral targeting and the generation of highly effective alerts.
- Develop and lead impactful analysis sessions for technology changes, ensure the accuracy and currency of operational procedures and controls, and spearhead the development of Compliance dashboards. Effectively present complex findings and strategic recommendations to diverse stakeholders.
- Perform special projects and additional duties and responsibilities as required.

Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Finance, or another quantitative field.
- 5+ years of hands-on experience supporting Anti-Money Laundering (AML) systems within financial crime compliance programs.
- Proven proficiency with data querying and analysis tools including Hive, SQL, Python, and business intelligence platforms like Tableau.
- Strong familiarity with financial crime industry practices and up-to-date knowledge of fraud and Anti-Money Laundering typologies.
- Excellent written and communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly to stakeholders with varying analytic skills and knowledge levels.

Preferred Qualifications
- Postgraduate degree (Master's or PhD) in Computer Science, Mathematics, Finance, or a related quantitative field.
- Extensive years of progressive experience supporting and optimizing Anti-Money Laundering systems in a dynamic financial services or technology environment as well as Demonstrated experience in leading complex data mining, data scrubbing, and data analysis projects.
- Direct experience with major AML vendor platforms (e.g., Actimize, FICO, Oracle Mantas) and their specific configuration, scenario logic, and data models as well as Relevant Anti-Money Laundering certification, such as Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), or other globally recognized credentials focused on combating financial crime.
- Experience with new system implementations, including leading User Acceptance Testing (UAT), comprehensive data testing, impact assessments, and model validations.
- Familiarity with applying statistical modeling or machine learning techniques to enhance financial crime detection along with Proven ability to influence and drive consensus among cross-functional teams and senior leadership.

About USDS
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. U.S. Data Security (“USDS”) is a subsidiary of TikTok in the U.S. This new, security-first division was created to bring heightened focus and governance to our data protection policies and content assurance protocols to keep U.S. users safe. Our focus is on providing oversight and protection of the TikTok platform and U.S. user data, so millions of Americans can continue turning to TikTok to learn something new, earn a living, express themselves creatively, or be entertained. The teams within USDS that deliver on this commitment daily span across Trust & Safety, Security & Privacy, Engineering, User & Product Ops, Corporate Functions and more.

Data Security Statement
This role requires the ability to work with and support systems designed to protect sensitive data and information. As such, this role will be subject to strict national security-related screening.


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.


USDS Reasonable Accommodation
USDS 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/USDS-RA


Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $147200 - $269800 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:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.