Child Safety Team Lead - USDS

Responsibilities
About the team
Our Trust & Safety Risk and Response team's commitment is to keep our online community safe. We have invested heavily in human and machine-based moderation to remove harmful content quickly and often before it reaches our general community.

As the Child Safety Team Lead under the Escalation Management Team, you’ll be guiding specialists under a US team that ensures the timely detection and removal of content across the broad spectrum of online child exploitation a abuse and exploitation. Through close partnerships with Legal, Policy, and Product, you will manage time-sensitive escalations, and child sexual exploitation and abuse incidents to protect our online community. Detecting and report incidents of online sexual abuse of minors including child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), sexually predatory behavior including grooming, and other sexual exploitation involving minors.

You will also work closely with internal teams to create and streamline team inter-operational processes, and increase our overall efficiency to ensure our products are free of any violative content.

The team is seeking an experienced people leader with excellent judgment, exceptional partnering skills and a passion for protecting children.

It is possible that this role will be exposed to harmful content as part of the core role/as part of project/ in response to escalation requests/by chance. Some content viewed may violate our community guidelines, which include but are not limited to bullying; hate speech; child abuse; sexual assault; torture; bestiality; self-harm; suicide; murder.

It is possible that this role will be exposed to harmful content on a daily basis.

In order to enhance collaboration and cross-functional partnerships, among other things, at this time, our organization follows a hybrid work schedule that requires 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 the specific requirements may change at any time.

This role may include on call and holiday support.

Responsibilities
-You will lead a team of Child Safety Specialists under the Head of CST Operations, ensuring daily operational effectiveness, set goals for the team, and be responsible for their wellness.
-You will help coach/mentor team members and devise development plans for their professional development.
-You will lead and manage escalations of Child Safety requests, including those from Law Enforcement, liaising with Legal, Policy, Product, GR teams and LPO colleagues whenever necessary. You will also work closely with our Global Child Safety team to partner on effective strategy to safeguard the platform.
-You will identify risks to operational efficiencies and escalate them efficiently while also seeking out solutions.
-You will work directly with the Head of CST Operations to provide regular reporting to keep stakeholders up to date on progress, findings and recommendations.
-You will manage multiple projects of moderate-to-high complexity and scope. --You will work cross-functionally to ensure coordination and alignment on objectives and key results.
-You will enhance our operational workflows via process improvements and identification of automation opportunities, as well as drive innovation regarding processes and best practices for implementing policies.
-You will attend regular Child Safety meetings and work closely with key partners.
-You will keep abreast and evaluate the impact of legislative, regulatory and legal developments related to the handling and reporting of Child Safety material.
-You will play a role in defining and implementing a long-term strategy to deal with hiring and volume growth to continue to meet goals in this area for TikTok.
-You will work directly with the team and adjacent teams to ensure long-term SLA adherence.
-You will address sensitive content issues, including but not limited to graphic images, videos and writings, offensive or derogatory language, and other objectionable material.

Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
-Significant experience working with Trust and Safety issues or similar related fields of work, and various types of online abuse.
-Proven experience managing and leading operational teams, with several years in a management role.
-Demonstrated expertise in engaging and collaborating with law enforcement agencies.
-Skilled in leading cross-regional teams, fostering alignment, and driving results across diverse geographies.
-Extensive experience handling sensitive content within removal processes, calibrations, and escalation management, particularly concerning child safety investigations and related law enforcement processes.
-Strong track record of managing multiple complex projects and developing effective team strategies.
-Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels, including senior stakeholders and executives, and articulate complex issues clearly and concisely.

Preferred Qualifications
-A degree in law, criminal justice, or a related field, or experience working in Trust and Safety with a focus on emergency response.
-Familiarity with EU and US laws and regulations impacting Trust and Safety operations (e.g., COPPA, TERREG).
-Demonstrated success in managing 24/7 operational teams, including experience with scheduling, time zone management, and handling stress in high-stakes environments, coupled with experience using data analytics to drive decision-making and process improvements.
-Your ability to work in a high tempo environment, adapt, and respond to day-to-day challenges of the role.
-Your resilience and commitment to self-care to manage the emotional demands of the role.

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.


Trust & Safety
TikTok recognises that keeping our platform safe for the TikTok communities is no ordinary job which can be both rewarding and psychologically demanding and emotionally taxing for some. This is why we are sharing the potential hazards, risks and implications in this unique line of work from the start, so our candidates are well informed before joining.
We are committed to the wellbeing of all our employees and promise to provide comprehensive and evidence-based programs, to promote and support physical and mental wellbeing throughout each employee's journey with us. We believe that wellbeing is a relationship and that everyone has a part to play, so we work in collaboration and consultation with our employees and across our functions in order to ensure a truly person-centred, innovative and integrated approach.


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) - Washington, DC
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is 99200 - 178600 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.