Barback

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Director of Engineering, Trust & Safety to lead, scale, and evolve the technical infrastructure, platforms, and algorithms that safeguard our global ecosystem. In this high-impact executive role, you will be responsible for defining the technical strategy to combat online fraud, abuse, account takeover, misinformation, harassment, and illegal content. You will lead cross-functional engineering, machine learning, and data science teams to build real-time detection systems and automated enforcement platforms while preserving a seamless experience for legitimate users. Key Responsibilities Strategic Leadership & Platform Architecture Define and drive the multi-year engineering roadmap for Trust & Safety, Abuse Prevention, Fraud Engineering, and Content Moderation platforms. Architect scalable, low-latency, real-time risk assessment engines, machine learning pipelines, and automated decisioning systems capable of evaluating millions of daily events. Establish metrics and operational indicators (e.g., false positive/negative rates, detection precision/recall, system latency, and enforcement speed) to track system efficacy and user safety. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Governance Partner closely with Legal, Policy, Product Management, Security, and Customer Support leadership to translate emerging risks and legal regulations into robust technical solutions. Lead engineering response strategies for critical safety incidents, emerging threat vectors, and policy compliance mandates (e.g., DSA, COPPA, GDPR). Drive the design of secure internal tools, review dashboards, and workflow automation for human moderation operations. Team Building & Organizational Excellence Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing, multi-tiered engineering organization composed of engineering managers, principal engineers, data scientists, and ML specialists. Cultivate a culture of technical rigor, operational excellence, rapid incident mitigation, and ethical AI development. Manage organizational headcount, budget allocation, vendor partnerships, and third-party safety tool integrations. Required Skills & Qualifications Technical Skills & Strategic Expertise Scalable Systems & ML Architecture: Deep technical understanding of high-throughput distributed systems, real-time streaming architectures (e.g., Kafka, Flink), and machine learning/AI detection models (NLP, computer vision, graph neural networks). Trust & Safety Domain Knowledge: Extensive expertise in threat modeling against online abuse patterns (spammers, fraudsters, bad actors, automated bots, and coordinated platform manipulation). Data & Analytics: Strong background in large-scale data processing, behavioral analytics, and predictive modeling for anomaly detection. Leadership & Executive Presence Proven experience managing large, multi-disciplinary engineering teams through multiple layers of management (managers of managers). Exceptional communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical trade-offs, risk postures, and safety investments to C-suite executives and board members. Calm, decisive leadership under pressure during high-stakes security incidents or crisis situations. Preferred Qualifications Education: Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative field. Experience: 10+ years in software engineering, with 5+ years in engineering leadership roles specifically focused on Trust & Safety, Risk & Fraud, Security, or Content Moderation at scale. Experience integrating generative AI safety guardrails, LLM moderation frameworks, and privacy-preserving machine learning techniques. Benefits & Compensation Salary Range: $220,000 - $285,000 annually (commensurate with experience) + executive equity package & performance bonus. Comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance plans. Executive 401(k) retirement plan with enhanced company match. Flexible paid time off (PTO) and paid executive sabbatical/leave options. Dedicated executive coaching, professional development, and wellness stipends. #J-18808-Ljbffr