Senior Escalation & Incident Lead

TikTok USDS Joint Venture; Scottsdale (AZ); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

TikTok USDS Joint Venture is seeking an Escalation Team Lead to build and guide a high-caliber escalation team. You will lead high-severity investigations, coordinate with Product, Engineering, Legal, and Security, and translate complex cases into structured, scalable processes.

This role demands strategic thinking, ambiguity tolerance, and a security-first mindset. You will shape incident response, SOPs, and cross-functional playbooks, while maintaining executive visibility and strong

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive experience in Account Security/Integrity, Trust & Safety, Fraud/Abuse Investigations, Technical Incident Management, Risk Operations, or High-Value VIP/Business Support, with 2+ years of leadership or lead project/team management experience.
• Strong expertise in identity verification, account recovery, ATO investigation techniques, and analyzing business/legal ownership documentation (e.g., LOAs, corporate filings).
• Proven ability to remain analytical and solution-focused when handling high-severity, executive-visible incidents with major financial, legal, or reputational risks.
• Exceptional networking and stakeholder navigation skills; demonstrated ability to connect with Product, Engineering, Security, and Legal partners on day-one to drive urgent resolutions.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills; ability to distill complex, technical investigations into concise, factual, and audience-appropriate reports for leadership or legal teams.
• Willingness and capability to participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation for high-severity emergency escalations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coach the team through complex, ambiguous investigations involving Account Takeovers (ATO), identity/ownership disputes, fraud, abuse, and corporate business transfers.
• Balance white-glove support for high-value business clients/advertisers with rigorous security standards, exercising sound prioritization and risk judgment across varying levels of business impact.
• Serve as the primary operational lead during high-severity safety, legal, or security incidents; communicate clearly with executive leadership, Legal, and Risk teams regarding confirmed facts, risk impact, blockers, and resolution status.
• Maintain and oversee an effective around-the-clock on-call coverage model to ensure immediate escalation triage for critical off-hours business or security emergencies.
• Proactively build strong, trusted working relationships across a massive global enterprise—including Legal, Compliance, Product, Security Engineering, Fraud, and Executive Support—to rapidly mobilize the right owners during crises.
• Transform unresolved, ambiguous incidents into scalable operational frameworks; drive post-incident SOPs, escalation matrices, tooling requirements, and automation.

Skills

Leadership

Investigations

Incident Management

Identity verification

Executive communication

Risk assessment

Security mindset

Job description

TikTok USDS Joint Venture is seeking an Escalation Team Lead to build and guide a high-caliber escalation team. You will lead high-severity investigations, coordinate with Product, Engineering, Legal, and Security, and translate complex cases into structured, scalable processes.

This role demands strategic thinking, ambiguity tolerance, and a security-first mindset. You will shape incident response, SOPs, and cross-functional playbooks, while maintaining executive visibility and strong