Responsibilities

The Applied Research Scientist will drive rigorous research to deepen our understanding of complex Trust & Safety challenges and inform better policy, product, and operational decisions. This role combines quantitative analysis, qualitative research, and domain expertise to uncover emerging risks, evaluate safety interventions, and translate insights into actionable strategies. The researcher will partner closely with Data Science, Policy, Product, Operations, and Engineering teams to shape how we understand and address evolving safety challenges at scale. Responsibilities: Conduct Mixed-Methods Research on Complex Safety Problems: - Lead end-to-end research initiatives, from problem framing and hypothesis development to analysis, validation, and recommendations. - Apply quantitative methods including statistical analysis, experimentation, causal inference, and modeling to identify trends, measure impact, and evaluate interventions. - Apply qualitative methods including user research, case analysis, stakeholder interviews, and ecosystem research to understand behaviors, motivations, and emerging risks. - Develop research frameworks to measure safety outcomes, policy effectiveness, enforcement quality, and user impact. Translate Research into Policy and Safety Insights: - Analyze large-scale behavioral, operational, and enforcement data to uncover risk patterns and opportunities for intervention. - Investigate the underlying drivers behind quantitative signals through qualitative evidence and domain understanding. - Partner with Policy teams to evaluate existing policies, identify gaps, and provide evidence-based recommendations for policy evolution. - Assess the effectiveness and unintended consequences of safety interventions, balancing enforcement goals, user experience, and ecosystem health. - Translate complex findings into clear narratives and recommendations for stakeholders. Drive Research Excellence and Cross-Functional Impact: - Partner with Product, Engineering, Operations, and Policy teams to influence safety strategy and decision-making. - Build reusable research methodologies, measurement frameworks, and analytical approaches across T&S. - Challenge assumptions and bring rigorous evidence into ambiguous, high-impact safety decisions. - Contribute to raising research standards and capabilities across the T&S Data Science organization.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualification(s): - 5+ years of experience in applied research, quantitative research, data science, behavioral science, social science, or related fields. - Strong quantitative foundation in statistics, experimentation, causal inference, and analytical modeling. - Experience applying qualitative research methods to understand human behavior, operational processes, or complex systems. - Ability to combine multiple evidence sources to develop holistic understanding and actionable recommendations. - Strong communication skills with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders. Preferred Qualification(s): - Experience in Trust & Safety, online platforms, fraud, abuse prevention, security, risk, or compliance domains. - Experience partnering with policy teams or evaluating policy/intervention effectiveness. - Experience researching adversarial behavior, online communities, or evolving ecosystem risks. - Experience building measurement frameworks or research programs that influence product and policy decisions.

Job Information

[For Pay Transparency]Compensation Description (Annually)

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $219000 - $408000 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.

Trust & Safety

Content that this role interacts with includes images, video, and text related to every-day life, but it can also include (but is not limited to) bullying; hate speech; child safety; depictions of harm to self and others, and harm to animals. Hence, it is possible that this role will be exposed to harmful content on a daily basis.

TikTok recognises that keeping our platform safe for the TikTok communities is no ordinary job which can be both rewarding and psychologically demanding and emotionally taxing for some. This is why we are sharing the potential hazards, risks and implications in this unique line of work from the start, so our candidates are well informed before joining.

We are committed to the wellbeing of all our employees and promise to provide comprehensive and evidence-based programs, to promote and support physical and mental wellbeing throughout each employee's journey with us. We believe that wellbeing is a relationship and that everyone has a part to play, so we work in collaboration and consultation with our employees and across our functions in order to ensure a truly person-centred, innovative and integrated approach.