Head of Child Safety Operations - USDS

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Team Intro
The Child Safety Team is a specialized group dedicated to protecting vulnerable populations by ensuring the swift and compliant handling of online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). The team's primary responsibility is the timely review and reporting of such content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in alignment with legal obligations under 18 U.S.C. § 2258A. This high-impact team works with Global Trust and Safety, legal, product, policy, engineering, and data teams to build effective tools, refine operational workflows, and provide actionable insights to improve prevention and detection systems. With a strong focus on compliance, operational excellence, and safeguarding employee well-being, the team is at the forefront of ensuring a safer digital environment

As Head of Child Safety Operations you are responsible for overseeing and driving the effectiveness of all aspects of child safety operations. This individual will ensure the timely and compliant review of online CSEA, leading the team's efforts in meeting regulatory obligations while optimizing operational efficiency. The role involves managing escalations, operational bandwidth planning, headcount forecasting, and ensuring the team has the tools and resources needed.
The Head of Child Safety Operations will collaborate closely with legal teams to ensure compliance, as well as with detection, product, and engineering teams to enhance insights, processes, and tools. This leader must bring operational expertise, strong analytical skills, and the ability to foster a resilient, mission-aligned team culture in the face of challenging and sensitive work.

This team performs a critical function that supports our efforts to address objectionable or disturbing content. Content that the team 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.

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

• Oversee daily operations of the Child Safety team to ensure the timely review and reporting of CSEA content to NCMEC in compliance with legal requirements including 18 US 2258A et al.
• Develop and implement efficient workflows and processes to optimize operational bandwidth and performance, including metrics.
• Ensure escalations and critical cases are prioritized and addressed with urgency.
• Work closely with legal teams to ensure compliance with laws and regulations governing online safety and reporting.
• Partner with product, engineering, and data teams to ensure the development and refinement of tools and pathways that enable case escalation and resolution.
• Collaborate with detection teams to share insights and analysis, enhancing prevention and detection efforts.
• Advance and maintain robust systems for tracking key operational metrics related to child safety operations, including case volumes, processing times, escalation rates, and compliance activities.
• Ensure accurate and comprehensive documentation to support transparency reporting and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Trust and Safety or a related field. Deep commitment to child safety and the mission to combat online exploitation.
• Demonstrated experience in leading high-pressure operational teams, preferably in Trust and Safety, or another high-stakes environment.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to learn new legal, technical, and operational frameworks quickly.
• Experience managing teams and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Exceptional organizational and leadership skills with the ability to manage complex operations.
• Strong understanding of compliance requirements under 18 U.S.C. § 2258A and other relevant laws such as COPPA. Ability to quickly grasp legal requirements and translate them into operational workflows.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present insights and advocate for operational needs at all levels of the organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, including legal, engineering, product, and data teams.
• Familiarity with how CSEA reports are processed by NCMEC and law enforcement, including the lifecycle of investigations and evidentiary requirements.
• Experience with tools and systems used in content moderation or detection of harmful content, including AI/ML-powered detection systems.
• Demonstrated ability to work with data to identify trends, assess risks, and develop insights for operational improvements.
• Resilience, discretion, and the ability to navigate emotionally challenging content and situations.
• 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.

Wellbeing Statement
Trust & Safety recognizes that keeping our platform safe for TikTok communities is no ordinary job. It can be rewarding, psychologically demanding, and emotionally taxing. 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 proceeding.

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.

D&I Statement
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.

Accommodation Statement
TikTok 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://shorturl.at/ktJP6

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.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $147000 - $270000 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.