Your impact

Handshake is building the future of human data for AI.

We partner directly with top AI labs to power large language model (LLM) training and evaluation with highquality expertgenerated data. As AI models become more sophisticated the demand for specialized human input continues to growand Handshake is uniquely positioned to meet it. We power career platforms at 92% of the top U.S. universities giving us direct access to verified expert talent across a wide range of domains.

Our AI team is rapidly building a new generation of human data productsfrom expert annotation platforms to AI interviewers and seamless payout infrastructureall designed to accelerate research and improve model performance.

Weve assembled a worldclass team from YC Notion Scale Coinbase Palantir and more and were working directly with many of the worlds leading AI research is a unique opportunity to join a fastgrowing team shaping the future of AI through better data better tools and better systemsfor experts by experts.

Were growing our team and looking for Staff Software Engineers to build highimpact products that support our Fellows in their work ensuring they have the tools and infrastructure needed to drive AI innovation. This is a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in a fastgrowing space working directly with leading AI labs and tech companies to develop solutions that enhance research workflows model evaluation processes and domainspecific AI applications. You will build critical features for products from the ground up collaborating closely with product design and engineering teams to create seamless and effective experiences.

Location: San Francisco CA 5 days/week inoffice

Your role

• Lead architectural design and technical strategy for core systems across our AI product stack driving decisions that impact reliability performance and scalability.
• Collaborate crossfunctionally with engineering product design and operations teams to build intuitive resilient systems from the ground up.
• Own large complex projects endtoend including planning technical design implementation deployment and maintenance.
• Act as a technical mentor and thought partner to engineers across the team upleveling engineering practices and fostering a culture of excellence.
• Contribute handson across the stackfrom backend services and infrastructure to polished userfacing featureswhile prioritizing performance and developer experience.
• Define and drive best practices in software design testing observability documentation and continuous delivery.
• Engage directly with internal and external stakeholders to gather requirements validate technical direction and iterate on solutions.

Your experience

• 7 years of professional software engineering experience with at least 2 years in a senior or stafflevel role leading complex highimpact projects.
• Expertise in fullstack development including strong proficiency with ReactJS and TypeScript on the frontend.
• Deep experience with backend development in Python or similar languages and strong familiarity with serviceoriented architecture and API design.
• Strong foundation in data modeling and experience working with relational databases such as PostgreSQL.
• Comfortable designing and deploying systems on cloud infrastructure (e.g. AWS GCP) and working with modern CI/CD pipelines.
• A track record of making strategic technical decisions and delivering productionready systems at scale.
• Exceptional communication and leadership skills with the ability to influence across functions and levels.
• Passion for clean maintainable code scalable systems and an iterative userfocused development approach.

Bonus areas of expertise

• Experience building AI/ML infrastructure or datacentric systems for LLM development and evaluation.
• Familiarity with component libraries design systems and frontend performance tuning.
• Prior experience mentoring engineers and driving technical direction on smalltomedium engineering teams.

Compensation range

$230K$275K
Compensation and level will be based on experience.

For cash compensation we set standard ranges for all roles based on function level and geographic location benchmarked against similar stage growth companies. In order to be compliant with local legislation as well as to provide greater transparency to candidates we share salary ranges on all job postings regardless of desired hiring location. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including geographic location as well as candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.

What we offer

At Handshake well give you the tools to feel healthy happy and secure.

Benefits below apply to US employees in fulltime positions.

• Equity and ownership in a fastgrowing company.
• 16 Weeks of paid parental leave for birth giving parents & 10 weeks of paid parental leave for nonbirth giving parents.
• Comprehensive medical dental and vision policies including LGTBQ Coverage. We also provide resources for Mental Health Assistance Employee Assistance Programs and counseling support.
• Generous learning & development opportunities and an annual $2000 stipend for you to grow your skills and career.
• Financial coaching through Origin to help you through your financial journey.
• Monthly internet stipend and a brand new MacBook to allow you to do your best work.
• Monthly commuter stipend for you to expense your travel to the office (for officebased employees).
• Free lunch provided 5x a week across all offices.
• Free gym access in San Francisco office building.
• Referral bonus to reward you when you bring great talent to Handshake.
• Team outings throughout the year to stay connected to each other.

• 401k Match: Handshake offers a dollarfordollar match on 1% of deferred salary up to a maximum of $1200 per year.
• All fulltime USbased Handshakers are eligible for our flexible time off policy to get out and see the world. In addition we offer 13 standardized holidays and 2 additional days of flexible holiday time off. Lastly we have a Winter #ShakeBreak a oneweek period of Collective Time Off.
• Handshake offers $500 home office stipend for you to spend during your first 3 months to create a productive and comfortable workspace at home.
• Family support: Parental leave coaching and support provided by Parentaly. We partner with Maven Clinic to provide a lifetime coverage up to $15K for expenses related to fertility and family forming!
• Lifestyle Savings Account: We offer you an annual stipend of $500 to use for purchases such as fitness classes gym memberships workfromhome setup and more.

Looking for more Explore our mission values and comprehensive US benefits at is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or reasonable accommodation please let your recruiter know during initial communications.