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. - 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.

About USDS

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