Data Scientist, Risk Operations - USDS
Responsibilities
Team Intro:
The Payment team of U.S. Data Security department of TikTok provides payment solutions - including payment acquisitions, disbursements, transaction monitoring, payment method management, foreign exchange conversion, accounting, reconciliations, and so on - to ensure that users have a smooth and secure payment experience on TikTok platform.
We are seeking a Data Scientist to drive operational maturity and technical innovation within our Payment Risk Operations. This is a hybrid role designed for those who thrive at the intersection of complex data analysis and real world execution. You will lead the data strategy to measure operational impact, partnering closely with Product and Engineering to deploy automated fraud prevention/reduction solutions that never compromise the customer experience.
In this role, you will design AI driven tools to automate manual workflows and optimize our defenses. While you will lead high level technical strategy, you are also ready to roll up your sleeves and engage directly with case reviews, as they are the frontline of risk enforcement, we believe our best strategies are built by those who truly understand the data on the ground.
Responsibilities:
AI and Workflow Automation
- Work with Product and Engineering teams to design and implement AI solutions to handle the heavy lifting of risk workflows; You will also define the metrics that prove the impact and set up the alarms to alert us if the logic/system fails.
- Spot patterns and catch spikes in customer complaints. You will be the one digging into the "why" behind the tickets so we can give the Strategy and Business teams the feedback they need to pivot quickly.
Chargeback and Dispute Strategy
- Design a monitoring framework to track win rate anomalies and use those insights to calibrate both the contestment strategy and the core risk scoring models.
- Develop predictive models to score and prioritize winnable chargebacks, ensuring high value and high probability cases are fast tracked for automated or manual representment.
Customer Experience and Sentiment Analysis
- Analyze the "friction vs. fraud" trade-off, measuring how risk interventions (e.g., account freezes, payment option greyouts) impact legitimate user behavior and long-term sentiment.
- Iteratively refine enforcement strategies to minimize false positives and protect the user journey.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- 3+ years in a data analytics role, specifically within Risk Analytics, Fraud Detection, or Trust and Safety.
- Experience working with real time risk detection and automated enforcement systems.
- Proficiency in Python (Pandas, Scikit-learn, LLM frameworks) and SQL for extracting insights from datasets.
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- Master's degree in Business Analytics, Statistics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Hands-on experience implementing AI agents or machine learning models to automate operational workflows (e.g., using LLMs for text classification or Vision models for ID verification).
- Experience working in a fast-paced operational environment with a familiarity in managing and interpreting risk operational data; ability to translate complex model outputs into actionable workflows.
Job Information
[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $136800 - $312867 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:
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:
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.
Perks and Benefits
Health and Wellness
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- HSA
- Life Insurance
- Fitness Subsidies
- Short-Term Disability
- Long-Term Disability
- On-Site Gym
- Mental Health Benefits
- Virtual Fitness Classes
Parental Benefits
- Fertility Benefits
- Adoption Assistance Program
- Family Support Resources
Work Flexibility
- Flexible Work Hours
- Hybrid Work Opportunities
Office Life and Perks
- Casual Dress
- Snacks
- Pet-friendly Office
- Happy Hours
- Some Meals Provided
- Company Outings
- On-Site Cafeteria
- Holiday Events
Vacation and Time Off
- Paid Vacation
- Paid Holidays
- Personal/Sick Days
- Leave of Absence
Financial and Retirement
- 401(K) With Company Matching
- Performance Bonus
- Company Equity
Professional Development
- Promote From Within
- Access to Online Courses
- Leadership Training Program
- Associate or Rotational Training Program
- Mentor Program
Diversity and Inclusion
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program
- Employee Resource Groups (ERG)
Company Videos
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