Manager, Security & Privacy Testing - USDS

TikTok USDS Joint Venture; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 168,336 - 394,200; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) savings plan with company match

Paid parental leave

Flexible paid time off

Job summary

A leading tech firm in Washington, DC, seeks a Manager of Offensive Security & Privacy Testing to lead a specialized team and define strategic oversight for security operations. This role requires proven expertise in offensive security, team leadership, and a strong understanding of privacy. The position offers a competitive salary range, comprehensive benefits, and significant opportunities for impact in the field of cybersecurity.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in offensive security or privacy disciplines, with at least 3 in a management role.
• Proven expertise across Cloud, Mobile, and Web Application security.
• Deep understanding of privacy-enhancing technologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of offensive security engineers.
• Define the roadmap for Penetration Testing and Offensive Privacy programs.
• Plan and authorize comprehensive testing engagements.

Skills

Offensive security

Privacy testing

Team leadership

Strategic oversight

Cloud security

Mobile application security

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Information Security

Tools

Burp Suite Pro

Cobalt Strike

Job description

Overview

The Validation and Verification (VnV) organization ensures the security and reliability of our products by validating that security controls are implemented correctly, operating effectively, and delivering measurable risk reduction across the enterprise. VnV operates across a continuous security lifecycle: Prevent → Assure → Test → Fix → Prove, ensuring that security posture is not only designed and tested, but continuously validated in real-world conditions.

About the Role

We are seeking a Manager of Offensive Security & Privacy Testing to lead a high-impact team of Penetration Testers and Offensive Privacy Testers. This is a dual-discipline leadership role where you will oversee the validation of both security controls and privacy-preserving mechanisms.

You will be responsible for the strategic vision and tactical execution of offensive operations that span cloud infrastructure, web resources, and mobile applications (iOS/Android). As a leader, you will bridge the gap between deep technical exploitation and executive-level risk management, ensuring that USDS maintains a world-class defense-in-depth posture.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, mentor, and grow a specialized team of offensive security and privacy engineers. Foster a culture of continuous research, innovation, and ethical hacking.
• Strategic Oversight: Define the roadmap for both the Penetration Testing and Offensive Privacy programs, ensuring alignment with NIST, OWASP, and privacy frameworks (CCPA, COPPA, GDPR).
• Integrated Testing Operations: Plan and authorize comprehensive testing engagements, including red teaming, application pentesting, and privacy-specific threat modeling.
• Stakeholder Management: Act as the primary interface for executive leadership, Legal, Risk & Compliance, and Engineering teams. Translate complex technical vulnerabilities into actionable business risks.
• Methodology & Governance: Define and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Rules of Engagement (ROE), and testing methodologies for cloud, mobile, and infrastructure domains.
• Technical Excellence: Remain hands-on when necessary, guiding the team through complex exploitation scenarios, reverse engineering, and the development of custom tooling.
• Remediation Advocacy: Work closely with Blue Teams and Vulnerability Management to track findings through to completion, providing pragmatic, risk-appropriate recommendations.
• Metrics & Reporting: Develop and report key performance indicators (KPIs) to demonstrate program effectiveness and organizational risk reduction.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: 5+ years in offensive security or privacy disciplines (Red Teaming, Pentesting, Vulnerability Research), with at least 3+ years in a formal people management or lead role.
• Technical Breadth: Proven expertise across Cloud (AWS/Azure/OCI), Mobile (iOS/Android), and Web Application security.
• Privacy Knowledge: Deep understanding of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) and the ability to apply offensive mindsets to identify data leakage and privacy-control bypasses.
• Coding/Scripting: Proficiency in at least two languages (e.g., Python, Golang, C++, Bash, or Java) for exploit development and automation.
• OS Mastery: Advanced knowledge of Windows, *nix, and MacOS environments.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related technical field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Certifications: A combination of security and privacy certs: (e.g., OSCP/OSEP/GXPN AND CIPP/CIPT/CIPM).
• Community Impact: Contributions to the security/privacy community (CVEs, bug bounty hall of fame, whitepapers, or speaking at conferences like DEF CON, Black Hat, or IAPP).
• Regulatory Expertise: Experience navigating security testing within highly regulated environments or national security-focused divisions.
• Tooling: Expertise with industry-standard tools (Burp Suite Pro, Cobalt Strike, Frida, Objection, MobSF).

About Us

TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is dedicated to the safety and security of millions of Americans who create, discover, and connect with what they love on the apps we operate. The Joint Venture has been established in compliance with the Executive Order signed by President Trump on September 25, 2025. Our foundation is a comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity program we operate under defined safeguards to protect national security and secure U.S. user data, apps and the algorithm. We safeguard the U.S. content ecosystem, holding decision-making authority for trust and safety policies and moderation. USDS Joint Venture helps ensure Americans can continue to express their creativity, discover new hobbies and interests, and build thriving communities and businesses on a global scale.

On-site presence across teams allows the company to operate with greater speed, alignment, and agility — especially in areas like real-time decision-making, team development, and integrated execution. As such, the company is shifting from a hybrid work model to a fully in-person schedule up to 5 days a week.

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.

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 $168,336 - $394,200 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.