Engineering Manager, Handshake AI

About Handshake AI

Handshake is building the career network for the AI economy. Our three-sided marketplace connects 18 million students and alumni, 1,500+ academic institutions across the U.S. and Europe, and 1 million employers to power how the next generation explores careers, builds skills, and gets hired.

Handshake AI is a human data labeling business that leverages the scale of the largest early career network. We work directly with the world’s leading AI research labs to build a new generation of human data products. From PhDs in physics to undergrads fluent in LLMs, Handshake AI is the trusted partner for domain-specific data and evaluation at scale.

This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing team shaping the future of AI through better data, better tools, and better systems—for experts, by experts.

Now’s a great time to join Handshake. Here’s why:

• Leading the AI Career Revolution: Be part of the team redefining work in the AI economy for millions worldwide.

• Proven Market Demand: Deep employer partnerships across Fortune 500s and the world’s leading AI research labs.

• World-Class Team: Leadership from Scale AI, Meta, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir, just to name a few.

• Capitalized & Scaling: $3.5B valuation from top investors including Kleiner Perkins, True Ventures, Notable Capital, and more.

About the Role

We’re expanding our team and seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the development of high-impact products that empower our Fellows in driving AI innovation. This is a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in a fast-growing space, working directly with leading AI labs and tech companies to develop solutions that enhance research workflows, model evaluation processes, and domain-specific AI applications.

We’re expanding our team and seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead our Annotations Team, responsible for building and maintaining the tools that power our data creation pipeline. This team develops products used by operators and fellows to create data used by researchers to train the latest, state of the art language models.

As an Engineering Manager, you'll play a key role in shaping technical direction, fostering engineering excellence, and ensuring your team delivers reliable, scalable, and user-centric solutions. You’ll manage a talented group of engineers focused on improving workflow efficiency, quality assurance, and scalability across annotation systems. This is a highly cross-functional role that sits at the intersection of engineering, operations, and product, ensuring our data creation platform is robust, intuitive, and ready to meet evolving research needs.

Location: San Francisco, CA| 5 days/week in-office

• Lead and grow a high-performing engineering team, fostering a culture of ownership, inclusion, and technical excellence.

• Partner with product and design teams to define roadmaps, scope projects, and deliver end-to-end solutions aligned with user needs.

• Drive technical architecture and decision-making, ensuring systems are scalable, maintainable, and performant.

• Mentor engineers across experience levels, supporting their growth through regular feedback, coaching, and development opportunities.

• Oversee day-to-day execution, ensuring high-quality code, effective reviews, and healthy team velocity.

Desired Capabilities

• 2–4+ years of experience in an engineering leadership role (team lead, tech lead, or manager), in addition to prior experience as a hands-on engineer.

• Strong technical background in full-stack development, particularly with ReactJS, TypeScript, and backend technologies like Node.js or Python.

• Experience leading teams building end-user products with a focus on quality, usability, and performance.

• Solid understanding of system architecture, relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL), and cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, GCP).

• Proven track record of successfully shaping product direction and delivering results in a fast-paced environment.

• Excellent communication skills, with an ability to influence across technical and non-technical audiences.
  

Extra Credit

• Experience managing teams building AI or LLM-powered products.

• Familiarity with design systems and scalable frontend architecture.

• Deep focus on developer experience, tooling, and internal platform improvements.

• Passion for working on products that accelerate research and innovation.

Perks

Handshake 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, $500 wellness stipend

📚 Growth: $2,000 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 bonuses

Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.