About HandshakeHandshake was founded on a simple belief that everyone deserves a path to a great career, regardless of where they went to school or who they know. Today, we power 25 million job seekers, 1 million+ employers, and 1,600 educational institutions.In 2025, we started Handshake AI and built the fastest-growing AI data business in history. We work directly with frontier AI lab researchers to create evaluations, publish benchmarks, and push the boundary of data.
We've grown from $0 to ~$1B run rate and pay ~$60M to over 30K individuals every month.Why join Handshake now:Shape how every career evolves in the AI economy, at global scale, with impact your friends, family and peers can see and feelPartner hand-in-hand with world-class AI labs, Fortune 500 partners and the world's top educational institutionsWork together with engineers, scientists, operators, and more from Palantir, Meta, Scale AI, and former YC foundersBuild a massive, fast-growing business with billions in revenueAbout the RoleAs a Senior Software Engineer on Operating Tooling, you'll build internal products and automation that help Handshake's operators run the business at high quality and speed. This team functions like an embedded/consulting engineering group: you'll partner directly with operators, learn their workflows deeply, and enable new operational capabilities.This role is highly collaborative and communication-heavy. Success requires strong technical fundamentals plus high EQ—someone who can translate ambiguous operational needs into reliable systems, and iteratively ship improvements that stick.In this role, you will:Embed with operators to understand processes, pain points, and success metrics; translate them into clear technical requirements and deliverables.Architect and build internal tools, automations, and workflows that improve operational throughput, accuracy, and visibility.Lead projects end-to-end: discovery, scoping, technical design, implementation, rollout, and iteration.Balance speed and quality by making thoughtful tradeoffs, ensuring maintainability, and building with operational reliability in mind.Collaborate closely with cross-functional partners (operators, engineering, product) to drive adoption and measurable impact.Mentor other engineers and help establish strong engineering practices for an internal-tools environment.Desired Capabilities5+ years of software engineering experience, with comfort owning systems end-to-end (from requirements through production support).Strong communication skills and stakeholder management; able to partner deeply with non-engineering teams and operate with high empathy/EQ.Experience building internal tools, workflow systems, or automation for operations-heavy teams (or analogous customer-embedded roles like FDE / solutions engineering).Strong engineering judgment: can design scalable systems, pick the right level of abstraction, and avoid over-building.Track record of delivering iterative, high-leverage improvements in ambiguous environments.Extra CreditExperience with workflow/backlog systems, intake processes, and operational analytics (instrumentation, dashboards, QA).Comfort operating in a "player-coach" environment (mix of hands-on building plus lightweight coordination/mentorship as the team grows).Background building tooling for knowledge-work operations (e.g., case management, review/approval flows, data quality tooling).PerksHandshake delivers benefits that help you feel supported—and thrive at work and in life.
The below benefits are for full-time US employees.Ownership: Equity in a fast-growing company Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, financial coaching Family Support: Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, parental coaching Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, wellness stipend Growth: Learning stipend, ongoing development Remote & Office: Internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days Connection: Team outings & referral bonusesExplore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.