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TikTok

Deceptive Behaviors Investigation Analyst - USDS

Hybrid

Washington, United states

$ 136,000 /year

Junior

Full Time

28-10-2025

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Skills

Creativity Critical Thinking SQL Incident Response Research Crisis Management Organization

Job Specifications

Responsibilities
About the team
Our Deceptive Behaviors Investigation Analyst performs a critical function that supports our efforts to address objectionable or disturbing content. Content that the DBI team 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 abuse; sexual assault; torture; bestiality; self-harm; suicide; and murder. 


It is possible that this role will be exposed to harmful content on a daily basis.


This position will be full-time and may be based in our Washington DC or Los Angeles offices.


In order to enhance collaboration and cross-functional partnerships, among other things, at this time, our organization follows a hybrid work schedule that requires employees to work in the office 3 days a week, or as directed by their manager/department. We regularly review our hybrid work model, and the specific requirements may change at any time.



We are seeking an experienced Investigation Analyst to join the Trust and Safety Team within USDS. You will be supporting the Deceptive Behaviors and Network Investigations (DBNI) sub-team within our Risk and Response team. This team investigates leads of Influence Operations (IO) and other Deceptive Behaviors (DB) meant to mislead TikTok users and systems about the identity, origin, operating location, popularity, or overall purpose of the activity. The team also assesses and investigates other high harm networks that violate our Community Guidelines or policies in a coordinated manner. 


Authenticity is the foundation of our community at TikTok, and we strive to foster an environment where genuine interactions and content thrive. As such, the DBNI team leads USDS efforts to identify, assess, and disrupt networks that seek to deceive our users and systems or promulgate other coordinated harms. The team is looking for detail-oriented, motivated candidates with a passion for online safety and excellent critical thinking skills. Successful candidates will have the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced, small but growing environment, and work proactively with various teams across the globe.

Responsibilities
- Analyze quantitative and qualitative data to generate analytic judgments and products for internal trust & safety, legal, and executive customers.
- Use all available internal and external data sources to produce actionable intelligence on high-harm threat actors, their networks, and threat organizations in the topic area of Deceptive Behaviors and other high harms.
- Identify risk patterns and link abusive behavior through analysis.
- Work cross-functionally with internal teams on investigations, escalations, and incident response.
- Identify process and policy gaps and develop actionable recommendations to resolve them.
- Handle sensitive information in a manner complying with our Terms of Service, applicable laws and regulations, and internal operating procedures while protecting user privacy.
- Collaborate with a team of global experts that respond to known threat actors and proactively build and tailor queries to discover and identify potential threats.
- Monitor ongoing current affairs and abusive trends to iterate proactive measures to keep users safe.

Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
-Bachelor's degree or higher in Criminal Justice, Political Science, Economics, Business, Journalism, International Relations, Foreign Affairs, Cybersecurity, other relevant field, or equivalent experience.
-3+ years of investigations experience in trust & safety, law enforcement, intelligence, security, or risk fields.
-Analytic and investigative experience assessing large datasets to extract high fidelity signals.
-Basic proficiency in SQL or other relational database languages.
-Experience working in crisis management and response, while protecting highly confidential information.
-A proven record of identifying signals of nefarious behavior or feature abuse and using creativity to mitigate complex threats.
-Investigations experience focused on network analysis.

Preferred Qualifications
-An understanding of online deceptive and manipulative behavior and knowledge of the signals of specific threat actors, their cross-platform tactics, and how they evolve or change over time
-Identify anomalous behavior and determine ways for further exploring new research leads
-Experience working with international partners in different time zones while also being able to communicate complex concepts to broader stakeholders without shared expertise
-Your ability to work in a high tempo environment, adapt, respond to day-to-day challenges of the role.
-Your resilience and commitment to self-care to manage the emotional demands of the role.

About USDS
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. U.S. Data Security (“USDS”) is a subsidiary of TikTok in the U.S. This new, security-first div

About the Company

TikTok is the world's leading destination for short-form video. Our platform is built to help imaginations thrive. This is doubly true of the teams that make TikTok possible. Our employees lead with curiosity, and move at the speed of culture. Combined with our company's flat structure, you'll be given dynamic opportunities to make a real impact on a rapidly expanding company as you grow your career. We have offices across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas – and we're just getting started. Know more