Lead Data Scientist, Transparency & Observability - Trust and Safety

TikTok; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 219,000 - 354,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok is seeking a Lead Data Scientist for Transparency & Observability in the Trust & Safety group, based in San Jose. You will architect observability systems, establish data governance, and drive AI readiness across product and policy teams.

You will collaborate with Product, Engineering, Policy, and Legal to translate complex problems into scalable data strategies and ensure explainable, auditable outcomes across enforcement workflows.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in Data Science, Data Engineering, Data Architecture, Analytics, or related field with cross-team leadership.
• Experience designing scalable data ecosystems, data modeling, and production pipelines on large-scale platforms.
• Strong SQL and Python skills; experience with data quality, observability, and metrics frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Architect Transparency & Observability Systems for Trust & Safety, including metrics, data pipelines, monitoring, and reporting.
• Design end-to-end observability for enforcement lifecycle with traceability and explainability of decisions.
• Lead data governance, data quality, lineage, and regulatory reporting readiness.
• Oversee ETL pipelines and workflow orchestration to produce reliable data products.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Policy, Operations, Legal, and Comms to apply AI and data to improve efficiency and safety outcomes.
• Own long-term technical roadmap for Trust & Safety observability and AI readiness, and mentor data scientists and engineers.

Skills

Data strategy

SQL

Python

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in a quantitative field

Tools

Hive

Spark

Job description

Lead Data Scientist, Transparency & Observability - Trust and Safety

Location:

San Jose

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Code:

A120120

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Responsibilities

• Architect Transparency & Observability Systems:
• Establish the Transparency & Observability architecture for Trust & Safety, covering metrics, data pipelines, monitoring, and reporting.
• Design end-to-end observability for the enforcement lifecycle, from detection and review to actions and outcomes, so that every enforcement decision can be traced, measured, and explained.
• Set standards for metric definitions, anomaly detection, and alerting, and make sure Trust & Safety reports one consistent view of its enforcement.
• Build Governed, AI-Ready Data Foundations:
• Set up data quality, lineage, and governance practices (SLAs, validation, reconciliation, documentation) so that Trust & Safety data is accurate, timely, and audit-ready for regulatory reporting.
• Design and oversee ETL pipelines and workflow orchestration that turn scattered inputs into reliable, well-documented data products.
• Build data systems designed for agent consumption across Trust & Safety, covering canonical data models, semantic layers, intelligent workflows, and evals.
• Drive AI Readiness and Technical Leadership Across Trust & Safety:
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Policy, Operations, Legal, and Comms to find high-impact opportunities where AI and data can improve operational efficiency and safety outcomes, and take solutions from experimentation to reliable production.
• Own the long-term technical roadmap for Trust & Safety observability and AI readiness, and lead the program and change management needed to land it across teams.
• Create reusable architecture principles, reference architectures, and best practices for responsible, explainable AI adoption across Trust & Safety teams, and mentor data scientists and engineers in applying them.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualification(s):
• 5+ years of experience in Data Science, Data Engineering, Data Architecture, Analytics, or a related quantitative field, including technical leadership of cross-team initiatives.
• A track record of designing scalable data ecosystems: data modeling, governed analytics layers, and production pipelines on large-scale platforms (e.g. Hive, Spark).
• Strong SQL and Python skills.
• Experience building data quality, monitoring, or observability solutions, and designing metrics frameworks used across organizations.
• A solid understanding of AI architecture patterns (e.g. RAG, embeddings, knowledge systems) and responsible AI practices, applied to operational workflows.
• Ability to translate ambiguous business problems into technical strategy, and to influence both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including leadership.
• Bachelor's degree or above in a quantitative discipline such as Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or Economics.
• Preferred Qualification(s):
• Experience in Trust & Safety, regulatory reporting, or compliance domains.
• Familiarity with transparency and regulatory requirements such as the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) and similar global frameworks.
• Experience driving program and change management across global, cross-functional teams.

Job Information

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $219000 - $353600 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:

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.

Trust & Safety

Content that this role 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 safety; depictions of harm to self and others, and harm to animals. Hence, it is possible that this role will be exposed to harmful content on a daily basis.

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.

About TikTok

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 we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

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.

TikTok Accommodation

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://tinyurl.com/RA-request

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