“On the Global Monetization Team, innovation often takes the centre-stage in shaping the team direction. It is not about matching the competition but it is about paving the way for the new generation”, says Ray, Global Head of Product Strategy & Operation at the Global Monetization Team. In the article below, Ray talks about what it is like being part of TikTok as a whole, specially in the Global Monetization Team.
When did you first join the Global Monetization Team at TikTok?
I joined the company a year ago. The reason why I joined this team and TikTok was, first of all because it's a really exciting rocket ship in the current industry, pushing to the frontier in terms of advertisement - especially with the mobile experience in the short-form video format. The other part is speed; it is a start-up situation, so everything moves incredibly fast compared to other companies.
Are there any significant differences between working at your previous companies and working at TikTok?
One big thing is the willingness to collaborate. I think that's very important and also very unique to this team. We are aligned with the product team, which makes our role easier to influence Product Managers. That is something which is very interesting compared to the other big companies and I think that could be a very unique positioning on the market for my team.
Another thing is, again, it's a start-up situation. In a lot of situations and conversations, we can make decisions very fast. Also, we reuse some of our previous knowledge to make things move even faster, and make decisions which in other companies might take months or even years to make. In this company we are willing to try, people are not afraid of having a new product failing or something like that, it's not the top of our minds. It's more about how we can be more innovative and catch up with or even be the leader of a specific field.
How would you describe the Global Monetization team?
The value for this team is to be innovative. That's something I really feel should be a centerpiece of the team. We're not only learning and chasing our competitors in the market, we could actually lead the new generation in how product teams work. The second value of the team is being diversified and inclusive, and that's a very important piece that we need to continue pushing forward as we grow, especially on the global stage.
Why should someone join your team?
Firstly, it's really fun to work for a startup like this. You have unlimited resources, just like in a video game, you don't have any restrictions on using anything. You basically join this team, already having all the equipment you need.
Secondly, it's personal growth - I always use an analogy of a business school: you're basically paying the school to learn what you want to learn. It's a business setting - you want to learn this, you want to learn that, and a lot of the time, you'd want to switch your jobs after you've done your MBA. But I'm actually paying you to learn about your next career path, so in your role you will learn a lot of different things because you're playing different roles. You'll get experienced in marketing, operations, product strategy and even in sales. These are four different things you can do and learn from, and eventually you will pick up one of the specific areas you want to grow to the next level.
Want to join Ray's Product Strategy & Operation team globally? Check out open positions here!
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