(Yicai Global) April 26 -- Chinese internet giant ByteDance, the company behind short-video platform TikTok, said it has appointed a former senior partner at US law firm Skadden as its new chief financial officer.

Julie Gao will fill the CFO position left vacant for five months, Chief Executive Officer Liang Rubo said in an internal letter to staff yesterday. Gao has worked with Beijing-based ByteDance on a number of acquisitions and financing projects since 2016, so she is familiar with its mission, culture, team, and business, Liang noted.

The China-focused lawyer, who was a member of Skadden’s top governing body, advised on ByteDance’s acquisitions of Chinese social media platform Musical.ly, which was later integrated into TikTok, and games studio Moonton Technology, and helped it with several rounds of private equity funding.

She also advised on initial public offerings and other deals involving more than 100 companies, including Chinese tech giants Meituan, JD.Com, Pinduoduo, and Xiaomi.

At ByteDance, Gao will mainly work at the firm’s Hong Kong and Singapore offices, Liang said.

The CFO position had been vacant since November, when TikTok CEO Zhou Shouzi gave up the concurrent role.

Editor: Futura Costaglione