The Risk & Response Team for TikTok USDS is a multi-disciplinary team that handles risk detection, prevention and handling in the United States. The team is dedicated to maintaining a safe and secure online environment for users by actively monitoring and responding to emergent threats, ensuring compliance with legal regulations, and addressing real-life implications of online content.
As a Validations Specialist, you will support USDS Risk & Response teams with content and account review, analysis, and enforcement; test and improve threat detection logic; and support testing and implementation of new tools and processes
Our Validations Team performs a critical function that supports our efforts to address objectionable or disturbing content. Content that the Validations Specialist interacts with includes images, video, and text related to every-day life, but it can also include (but is not limited to) bullying; hate speech; child abuse; sexual assault; torture; bestiality; self-harm; suicide; and murder.
It is possible that this role will be exposed to harmful content on a daily basis.
This team must be comfortable occasionally working unusual business hours (e.g., Tuesday-Saturday or Sunday-Thursday), working late night shifts, and also providing shift coverage during crisis events.
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.
Responsibilities:
Expertise in TikTok Policy
Interpret TikTok's Community Guidelines and make enforcement decisions based on them
Stay current on key workflow changes and policy updates that are regularly cascaded
Leverage unique vantage point to help bridge gaps between Policy, Moderation, and Trust & Safety teams in order to improve policy and process
Content & Account Reviews
Conduct meticulous review of large volumes of potentially high harm content and accounts, and make enforcement decisions based on Community Guidelines
Based on large scale reviews, identify and capture new intelligence signals to improve overall detection capabilities; drive real-time insights to leadership and cross-functional partners across Incident Management, Policy, Investigations, Comms, Legal, and other teams
Partner with subject matter experts and analysts to develop methodologies for reviewing large volumes of potentially violative content; action content at scale based on high confidence reviews and analysis
Support research content analysis through accurate labeling and annotating content--including written text, spoken language, images, audio, videos, and accounts--in order to create accurate classifiers for increased precision of models and improved recall rates for problematic content
Data-driven decision making
Utilize data plus internal tools and systems to help Trust & Safety teams analyze trends, identify patterns, and share insights that support process improvements
Share data and insights that illuminate policy gaps and grey areas, all with the intention of improving policy to enable clear, scalable enforcement
Test new tools and analysts' hypotheses, and provide precise feedback and recommendations based on data
Detection Engineering Support
Partner with Trust & Safety analysts to test and improve threat detection models
Identify intelligence (signals) that improve analyst-built detections
Support hypothesis testing through validating detections in the development phase
Investigate Intelligence Collection Requests
Review, investigate, and process sensitive intelligence leads with high quality, accuracy, and speed
Conduct deep-dive investigations leveraging subject matter expertise, policy, tooling, and data to thoroughly assess and validate potential and emerging threats on platform
Leverage internal tools and queries to conduct "sweeps" designed to identify remove violative content at scale
Provide summaries/reports documenting results of deep dive investigations
Project Management
Ensure that action items identified as the result of root cause analyses are escalated to the appropriate cross-functional partners for remediation
Trouble-shoot internal tooling and programs; support testing and iteration of new tool launches
Manage and coordinate requests from cross-functional partners; ensure requests are completed in a timely manner
Support Quality Assurance initiatives to assess the team's enforcement decisions
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's degree or at least 1 year of experience in Trust & Safety, Operations, Content Moderation, or as a research assistant
Strategic critical thinker with analytical and creative problem-solving skills
Demonstrated experience as a collaborative team player; you understand the importance of proactive problem identification and covering for your colleagues when they need you most
Strong communication and writing skills
Ability to work independently and reliably under tight timeframes in a fast-paced environment
Strong ability to multi-task and manage multiple competing priorities while working seamlessly across teams
Open minded thinking about people, cultures, backgrounds, and threats
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in online investigations, analysis, escalations, or operations, content policy, project management, or equivalent relevant fields, such as content moderation or model labeling
Ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, prioritize work, and make data-driven decisions
Technical aptitude for learning complex tools or systems required for daily operations
Experience dealing with complex, no-right-answer problems; demonstrated critical thinking skills and interest in ethics and/or policy
Highly organized with experience prioritizing multiple functions and tasks while managing their work time efficiently without compromising quality
Analytical-thinking and problem-solving experience
Knowledge of social media challenges and sensitivity to safety, regulatory, or compliance issues
Experience driving high-priority issues through process of resolution
Your ability to work in a high tempo environment, adapt, respond to day-to-day challenges of the role.
Your resilience and commitment to self-care to manage the emotional demands of the role.
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $68640 - $97777 annually.
Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidateās 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; and
Exercising sound judgment.
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 (āUSDSā) 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 ā 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