Commercial Counsel Visa Sponsorship Jobs in California

Responsibilities

The Legal and Compliance team provides key support for all of TikTok USDS Joint Venture's innovative initiatives, state-of-the-art products, and integrated platforms. We help our technology, business, and functional teams enable their vision by providing seamless, integrated legal and compliance guidance and support. Within Legal and Compliance, the Litigation and Regulatory team handles a dynamic, high-volume portfolio of cutting-edge litigation and regulatory matters. We are seeking a highly experienced, strategic, and self-motivated Senior Employment & Commercial Litigation Counsel to join our legal team. Reporting directly to the Head of Litigation & Regulatory, this role will serve as the lead lawyer for day-to-day handling of employment litigation matters and a variety of commercial litigation matters. In this position, you will work closely with the Employment Legal, HR, and ER teams to provide critical legal guidance and serve as the primary owner of employment pre-litigation and litigation matters. In addition, you will work with other members of the Litigation & Regulatory team, as well as with cross-functional partners and business teams, on a wide range of civil and commercial litigation and pre-litigation issues. The ideal candidate is an experienced employment and commercial litigator with both law firm and in-house experience independently handling high-stakes, sensitive, and complex litigation matters in a fast-paced environment.

• Manage Employment Litigation: Serve as the day-to-day lead on employment litigation matters. Independently evaluate, manage, and resolve single-plaintiff claims, class/PAGA actions, arbitrations, and administrative agency proceedings (EEOC, CRD, state DOLs, etc.), among other matters. Partner with Employment Legal, HR, and Employee Relations, to manage and/or advise on pre-litigation dispute resolution, risk mitigation strategies, settlement negotiations, and internal investigations.
• Handle Commercial and Civil Litigation Matters: Lead and manage a diverse portfolio of civil and complex commercial litigation from pre-litigation through appeal, including class actions, torts, contract, and IP claims. Drive case strategy, oversee motions practice and discovery, manage outside counsel, set budgets, evaluate corporate risk, and defend the company in a dynamic range of commercial disputes and social media litigation.
• Assist with e-Discovery, Matter Management, and Legal Operations: Oversee legal hold, preservation, and e-Discovery workflows, including data collection, processing, and document review, in close coordination with internal e-Discovery teams and external vendors across complex enterprise infrastructure. Direct litigation operations and matter management, including managing external law firm billing, litigation budgets, accruals, and resource allocation, while building scalable internal processes and reporting.
• Cross-Functional Advocacy: Partner with a broad range of cross-functional internal teams to ensure seamless and proactive legal support, eliminating information gaps, silos, and operational bottlenecks. Serve as a trusted advisor to business leaders on litigation risk management, policy enforcement, and dispute resolution in high-stakes scenarios.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school and active bar membership in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
- 12+ years of litigation experience, including substantial experience in both employment and complex civil and commercial litigation (law firm and in-house experience preferred).
- Expert knowledge of relevant statutory frameworks, such as California and Federal employment law (e.g., FEHA, Title VII, FLSA, Labor Code, PAGA), along with strong familiarity with federal and state civil procedure.
- Proven track record of leading cross-disciplinary litigation teams, managing joint defense groups, overseeing complex employment and commercial litigation and advising on high-profile, sensitive investigations and pre-litigation matters.
- Exceptional written and oral communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to deliver practical, risk-adjusted legal advice.
- High EQ relationship-builder, with an attitude of collaboration, flexibility, a growth-mindset, team player, and humility.
- High level of integrity, professional judgment, acute attention to detail, and a deeply solution-oriented mindset.

Preferred Qualifications:
- Law firm employment litigation experience defending major technology, corporate, or media clients in complex single-plaintiff and class action litigation and arbitration.
- Law firm litigation experience leading complex commercial litigation matters, such as breach of contract disputes, corporate governance claims, unfair competition actions, class actions, IP claims, individual and mass torts, and more.
- In-house experience, particularly within a fast-paced technology or media environment, managing an active, fast-paced litigation docket, legal operations, and e-Discovery.
- Experience handling highly sensitive or confidential matters involving trade secrets, proprietary technology, or national security.

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 https://tinyurl.com/USDS-RA

Job Information

【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually) The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $228800 - $419200 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.