Head of Policy - Trust and Safety

Responsibilities:
- Develop and Lead Global Policy Strategy: Define the vision and strategic roadmap for TikToks's Trust & Safety policies globally. Oversee the entire policy lifecycle - including development, launch, iteration, and retirement - ensuring policies effectively address content safety, user conduct, platform integrity, and emerging risks, informed by data analysis and proactive risk assessment.
- Lead a High-Performing Policy Team: Recruit, mentor, lead, and inspire a team of Trust & Safety policy professionals, fostering a collaborative culture focused on deep expertise, critical thinking, operational impact, and continuous professional development.
- Drive Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the primary T&S policy expert, partnering closely with and influencing Legal, Product, Engineering, Operations, Data Science, and Communications to ensure policies are clearly understood, technically feasible, operationally scalable, consistently enforced, and effectively communicated.
- Manage Incident Response and External Engagement: Act as a key policy decision-maker and advisor during safety incidents and crises. Represent TikTok's safety policies and develop an effective approach with external stakeholders, including industry partners, civil society, safety experts, and policymakers, and contribute to transparency initiatives.
- Advise and Brief Executive Leadership: Serve as the primary Trust & Safety policy advisor to C-suite executives and other senior leaders, providing clear, concise briefings and strategic counsel on critical policy matters, emerging risks, high-profile incident responses, regulatory impacts, and overall T&S program performance to inform key company decisions and strategy.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
- 5+ years of progressive experience focused on policy development, implementation, and iteration, primarily within Trust & Safety, content policy, risk management, or a closely related field, preferably at a technology or user-generated content platform.
- 5+ years of direct experience building, managing, mentoring, and leading high-performing teams responsible for policy or related functions.
- Comprehensive understanding of the online safety landscape, including major risk vectors (e.g., harmful content, platform abuse, child safety, misinformation), enforcement mechanisms, industry best practices, and the interplay between policy, product, and operations.
- Outstanding ability to communicate complex issues clearly (written and verbally) to diverse audiences, including executives; proven track record of building strong relationships and influencing cross-functional partners (e.g., Legal, Product, Engineering, Operations) to drive consensus and action.
- Strong strategic thinking, analytical reasoning, and problem-solving skills, with demonstrated experience using data and metrics to inform policy decisions, measure effectiveness, and navigate ambiguity in high-pressure situations.
- Experience navigating complex international challenges, including the varying legal, regulatory, cultural, and geopolitical factors that impact global policy development and enforcement.

Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience directly managing policy development for multiple global markets and navigating international regulations (e.g., DSA, GDPR).
- Expertise in specific high-priority T&S areas (e.g., Generative AI safety, election integrity, minor safety, counter-terrorism, etc.).
- Experience representing a company externally on safety issues with policymakers, regulators, or civil society organizations.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $234000 - $480000 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.