Central Policy Lead, High Harm - Trust and Safety

Responsibilities
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and its offices include New York, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Why Join Us:
Creation is the core of TikTok's purpose. Our platform is built to help imaginations thrive. This is doubly true of the teams that make TikTok possible. Together, we inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we all believe in and aim towards achieving every day. To us, every challenge, no matter how difficult, is an opportunity; to learn, to innovate, and to grow as one team. Status quo? Never. Courage? Always. At TikTok, we create together and grow together. That's how we drive impact - for ourselves, our company, and the communities we serve. Join us.

About the Team:
Building a world where people can safely discover, create and connect. The Trust & Safety (T&S) team at TikTok helps ensure that our global online community is safe and empowered to create and enjoy content across all of our applications. We have invested heavily in human and machine-based moderation to remove harmful content quickly and often before it reaches our general community.

The Trust & Safety Policy team develops and reviews our community policies to promote a positive and safe environment for all of our Users and Content Creators to enjoy and express themselves. We are seeking a highly skilled and strategic Manager of High Harm Policies to join our Trust and Safety team. This role involves leading the development, implementation, and oversight of policies and enforcement strategies to mitigate high-harm behaviors, content, and activities across our platforms. The ideal candidate has a deep understanding of harm prevention, risk assessment, and policy frameworks, and thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

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. This may occur in the form of images, video, and text related to every-day life, but it can also include (but is not limited to) bullying; hate speech; child safety; depictions of harm to self and others, and harm to animals.

Responsibilities:

• Develop scalable enforcement guidelines for trust and safety operations teams to ensure consistent and effective policy application;
• Work with engineering teams to implement tooling and automation solutions to support policy enforcement and reduce operational burden;
• Conduct research and leverage data to identify emerging high-risk trends and areas of potential harm;
• Design mitigation strategies, including proactive measures to address these risks at scale;
• Define metrics to measure the impact and effectiveness of high harm policies;
• Regularly report progress and insights to leadership, identifying opportunities for improvement.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, law, social sciences, or a related field;
• 5+ years of experience in trust and safety, public policy, risk management, or a related areas;
• Proven experience in creating and enforcing policies related to high harm content, behaviors, or activities;
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and research to inform policy decisions;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with internal teams;
• Understanding of global legal and regulatory frameworks related to online safety and harm prevention;
• Thrive in ambiguous environments by setting priorities, managing time effectively, and delivering high-quality outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working in a technology or digital platform environment;
• Familiarity with content moderation tools, AI/ML solutions, and automation for policy enforcement;
• Knowledge of cultural sensitivities and regional differences in harmful content definitions and enforcement.

Trust & Safety recognizes that keeping our platform safe for 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.

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.

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/cdpT2
Job Information
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $147000 - $270000 annually.

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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.

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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).

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The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

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For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
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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:

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1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;

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2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and

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3. Exercising sound judgment.