Changes are coming to TikTok‘s internal structure. A report in The Information discusses the video app’s reorganization of its operations division, which includes its creator and content teams.
According to The Information, the reorganization will affect “hundreds of operations staff,” who will be divided across three focuses: Creators, content strategy/policy, and publishers. Under the former TikTok COO, V Pappas, the operations unit included different divisions, such as “marketing and distribution” and “creators and content partnerships.”
Pappas left the COO position in June 2023, nine months after they endured a grilling in front of the U.S. Congress. (Pappas, who went by a different first name during the hearing, came out as nonbinary this past February.) To replace its outgoing Chief Operating Officer, TikTok turned to its Chief of Staff, Adam Presser.
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As COO, Presser has initiated a structural shift in order to make TikTok’s operations more efficient. “Our current structure has not allowed our teams to reach our full potential,” Presser wrote in a note viewed by The Information. He said that the reorganized division will prioritize “attracting and retaining the creators and publishers” who “produce the content that powers our platform.”
The subdivisions of the operations group as described as “pillars.” The Creators Pillar, led by Kim Farrell, includes marketing services and educational programs for videomakers. James Stafford will command the pillar that will seek out partnerships with top global publishers. Functions like data analysis, content strategy, and editorial policy will fall under the umbrella of the Content Strategy & Policy Pillar headed by Nicole Iacopetti.
According to The Information, TikTok had about 7,000 U.S.-based employees as of last March. The app’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, has long sought reorganization within the operations division. In 2022, he directed Pappas to restructure their creator teams.
The internal shuffle at TikTok will affect more than just a single unit. Big changes are also coming to the communications team, where former Disney exec Zenia Mucha is leading a reorganization just five months after she joined TikTok. Mucha had previously worked alongside the app as it lobbied Congress in hopes of avoiding a nationwide ban.
