Paranoids Child Safety Investigator

Location: United States of America

Yahoo serves as a trusted guide for hundreds of millions of people globally, helping them achieve their goals online through our portfolio of iconic products. For advertisers, Yahoo Advertising offers omnichannel solutions and powerful data to engage with our brands and deliver results.

A Little About Us

When you impact millions of people every day, you become a large target for adversaries of all types within all layers of the stack. Our job is to keep our users safe and make Yahoo one of the safest places on the Internet. We are the information security team at Yahoo, known as "The Paranoids."

The Child Safety Investigations Team (CSIT) within the Paranoids is charged with disrupting abuse targeting Yahoo users and using Yahoo products, such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Sports and Yahoo Finance. We play a key role in defending millions of Yahoo users and ensuring we are doing everything in our power to keep children safe on our platforms.

A Lot About You

We’re looking for a Child Safety Investigator who is passionate about creating a safe digital environment for minors. You have a strong understanding of child protection laws and digital safety protocols. You possess excellent analytical and problem-solving skills to identify and address potential threats, while also demonstrating empathy and sensitivity to the complexities of child safety work. You are tech-savvy, with a deep understanding of online platforms, social media, and emerging technologies, and have strong communication skills to collaborate effectively across teams and engage with internal and external stakeholders, including law enforcement, NGOs, and non-profit organizations.

Responsibilities

• Conducts in-depth, time-sensitive, and high-priority investigations into child safety violations, using sound judgment to disrupt, escalate, and report malicious actors
• Reviews sensitive content, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), as part of investigative work
• Communicates investigation findings clearly and effectively through written briefs and escalation summaries suitable for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), law enforcement, and legal teams
• Conducts open-source and cross-platform research to contextualize actors and abuse networks
• Analyzes case data to identify emerging child safety threat patterns and contributes to the development of detection, disruption, and reporting methods
• Supports investigations across other high-risk harm areas where child safety concerns intersect
• Develops a strong working understanding of Yahoo's products, internal data systems, and Trust & Safety (T&S) detection and enforcement mechanisms
• Partners with cross-functional teams such as Engineering, T&S, and Legal on initiatives to improve investigative tooling, data quality, and investigative workflows
• Leverages AI tools (e.g., Claude or similar LLMs) to accelerate research, summarize findings, draft investigative briefs and escalation summaries, and build efficiencies into investigative workflows, while applying independent judgment to verify outputs
• Participates in external information and knowledge sharing venues such as Tech Coalition working groups

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

5+ years of relevant experience in online child safety investigations, Trust & Safety, or a comparable investigative field

Comfortable reviewing sensitive content, including CSAM, with strong resilience for the emotional and psychological demands of the work

Working knowledge of NCMEC CyberTipline reporting workflows

Experience with Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) investigations; exposure to dark web research a plus

Ability to conduct technical investigations and document findings clearly in reports suitable for law enforcement, legal teams, or intelligence agencies

Understanding of child protection laws in the US and abroad, and of data privacy considerations relevant to safety work

Experience using AI/LLM-based tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) to support investigative workflows and drive efficiency gains — such as summarizing case data, drafting reports, triaging large volumes of information, or automating repetitive investigative tasks

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with big data technologies such as Splunk, Databricks, SQL/MySQL, or Hadoop

Experience with Python scripting to gather or analyze data

Familiarity with encryption, anonymity tools, VPNs, proxy services, and dark web markets

Experience partnering with engineering teams to improve child safety workflows, detection tooling or data quality

The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoopolicies;exercising sound judgment;working effectively, safely and inclusively with others;exhibiting trustworthinessandmeeting expectations;and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.

At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don’t require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in-person events or team sessions. You’ll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular attendance at a Yahoo office or facility. If you have any questions about how this applies to the role, just ask the recruiter!

Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law.

Yahoo is dedicated to providing an accessible environment for all candidates during the application process and for employees during their employment. If you need accessibility assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please submit a request via the Accommodation Request Form (www.yahooinc.com/careers/contact-us.html) or call +1.866.772.3182. Requests and calls received for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace strengthens Yahoo and deepens our relationships. When you support everyone to be their best selves, they spark discovery, innovation and creativity. Among other efforts, our 11 employee resource groups (ERGs) enhance a culture of belonging with programs, events and fellowship that help educate, support and create a workplace where all feel welcome.

The compensation for this position ranges from $128,250.00 - $266,875.00/yr and will vary depending on factors such as your location, skills and experience.The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of discretionary annual bonus or commissions. Our comprehensive benefits include healthcare, a great 401k, backup childcare, education stipends and much (much) more.

Currently work for Yahoo? Please apply on our internal career site.