Applied Research Scientist - Trust and Safety

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

Tik Tok recognises that keeping our platform safe for the Tik Tok 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.

Tik Tok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At Tik Tok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. Tik Tok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Inspiring creativity is at the core of Tik Tok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express…