Threat Investigator Team Lead

Discord; United States; Remote; USD 132,000 - 149,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Discord is seeking a Threat Investigations Team Lead to manage a small group of investigators and analysts focused on detecting and disrupting violent actors. You will guide complex cases, set performance standards, and mentor junior staff while coordinating with internal and external partners.

The role blends hands-on investigation with people management, requires strong communication and judgment, and supports a remote US-based arrangement with potential SF office overlap.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in threat intelligence, investigations, incident response, or a related field.
• At least 2 years of people-management experience.
• Deep expertise in at least one extremist or violent-threat-actor ecosystem.
• Ability to coach investigators and raise quality standards.
• Strong written and verbal communication, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Fluency with investigative and case-management tooling and data-driven prioritization.

Responsibilities

• Manage, coach, and develop a small team of investigators and analysts with clear expectations and timely feedback.
• Own the team’s investigative quality, workload prioritization, queue health, and performance.
• Serve as the first escalation point for complex, high-risk investigations and guide decisions.
• Guide deep-dive network investigations and build team tradecraft across case development and intelligence production.
• Translate signals and expertise into threat prioritization recommendations and policy gaps.
• Coordinate with law enforcement, government, and external partners on investigations or incidents.
• Support hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career development while fostering an inclusive team culture.

Skills

Threat intelligence

Investigations

Incident response

People management

Decision making

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Investigative tools

Job description

San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., or Austin

Discord has a highly engaged community of millions of daily active users who use the platform for many different reasons, but there’s one thing that nearly everyone does: play video games. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming, and we are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to hang out before, during, and after playing games.

Discord’s mission is to give people the power to create space to find belonging in their lives. Every day, millions of people trust Discord to be a place where they can talk, spend time together, and build community. Keeping that space safe starts with teams like ours.

Discord’s Violent Actors Team, part of the broader Threat Operations organization within Trust & Safety, identifies and disrupts violent and extremist actors and networks. As Threat Investigations Team Lead, you will manage and develop a team of investigators and analysts responsible for detecting, investigating, and disrupting ongoing and emerging threats.

You will be a player-coach: setting a high bar for investigative quality while staying close enough to the work to guide complex cases and incident response. You will help early-career investigators build their tradecraft, turn investigative findings into actionable intelligence, and collaborate with internal and external partners during high-risk incidents. You will report to the team’s Senior Manager.

This position is US-based and can be remote but if you live in the Bay Area, you're welcome to work from our beautiful SF office. #LI-Remote

What You’ll Be Doing

• Manage, coach, and develop a small team of investigators and analysts, setting clear expectations and providing timely, actionable feedback.
• Own the team’s investigative quality, workload prioritization, queue health, and performance.
• Serve as the first point of escalation for complex, ambiguous, or high-risk investigations, helping the team make sound and well-documented decisions.
• Act as a player-coach: guide deep-dive network investigations, build the team’s tradecraft across case development, network analysis, proactive detection, and intelligence production, and help the team identify new detection and disruption opportunities.
• Translate investigative signals and subject-matter expertise into recommendations about threat prioritization, policy gaps, and enforcement interventions.
• Coordinate with law enforcement, government, industry, and other external partners when investigations or incidents require external engagement.
• Support hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career development while fostering an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable team culture.

What You Should Have

• 5+ years of experience in threat intelligence, investigations, incident response, or a related field, with at least 2 years of prior people-management experience.
• Deep expertise in at least one extremist or violent-threat-actor ecosystem, with the analytical flexibility to develop proficiency across new harm areas as priorities evolve.
• Demonstrated ability to coach investigators, raise quality standards, deliver constructive feedback, and support the growth of people at different stages of their careers.
• Strong judgment in ambiguous, fast-changing situations — including defining scope, proposing solutions, and driving work to completion with limited oversight — while balancing immediate harm reduction against policy, legal, operational, and company-risk considerations.
• Fluency with investigative and case-management tooling, and the ability to use data and detection signals to guide team priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex and sensitive subjects for non-expert audiences.
• A collaborative approach to cross-functional work, with the ability to build consensus and coordinate across teams, disciplines, and time zones.

Bonus Points

• Experience supporting teams that regularly work with sensitive or potentially disturbing material.
• Additional language proficiency, particularly in languages relevant to high-harm threat-actor communities.
• Experience presenting complex threat findings to senior leaders or external audiences.

This position is US-based and can be based in Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Austin or San Francisco but if you live in the Bay Area, you’re welcome to work from our beautiful SF office.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $132,000 to $148,500 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.

Why Discord?

Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We're a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests, and helps developers build and grow their businesses. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank. Join us in our mission! Your future is just a click away!

Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. We want you to feel set up for success, so if you are in need of reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.

Please see our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy for details regarding Discord’s collection and usage of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process by clicking HERE.

Voluntary Self Identification

For government reporting purposes (EEO-1), we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Discord is required to file annual demographic reports with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Your responses help us meet this obligation. Each question below includes an “I don’t wish to answer” option. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

Additionally, we also have [optional] questions. These help us understand the composition of our broader applicant pool and have no impact on your application or hiring decisions. Your answers are kept secure, pseudonymized, and separate from your application and personal data. By answering, you consent to our use of your responses for the reasons above. If you change your mind later about sharing this information, you can withdraw consent anytime by reaching out to us at [e-mail].

Discord is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, compensation, discipline, termination, and access to benefits and training.