We're seeking a Business Recruiter (Contract) to join our Handshake AI team, partnering closely with hiring managers and executive leaders to recruit exceptional talent across the business.
This is a high-impact, high-velocity full-cycle recruiting role focused on hiring senior and strategic talent across a variety of business functions, including Operations, Finance, People, Legal, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Strategy, Communications, and other critical teams as our organization continues to scale.
Based in our San Francisco office, you'll own recruiting from intake through offer, acting as a trusted advisor to hiring leaders while delivering an exceptional candidate experience in a fast-paced, goal-oriented environment.
Your RoleOwn full-cycle recruiting for business roles across multiple functions, partnering closely with hiring managers on role requirements, hiring strategy, and execution
Lead intake meetings, develop search strategies, source and engage exceptional talent, and manage candidates through the interview and offer process
Partner with executive stakeholders to calibrate talent, advise on market conditions, and drive efficient, high-quality hiring decisions
Build and manage strong candidate pipelines through proactive sourcing, referrals, networking, and creative recruiting strategies
Deliver a best-in-class candidate experience while ensuring hiring teams move quickly and effectively through the interview process
Provide market insights and strategic guidance, advising on talent availability, competitive landscape, compensation trends, and recruiting effectiveness
Track recruiting activity and pipeline health, maintaining data integrity in Ashby and leveraging recruiting metrics to improve outcomes
Experience: 5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with a strong track record hiring business talent in high-growth technology or startup environments
Business Recruiting Expertise: Proven success recruiting across a range of business functions, including Operations, Finance, People, Legal, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Strategy, Communications, and other corporate teams
Executive Partnership: Experience partnering closely with leaders and hiring managers, providing thoughtful guidance on hiring strategy, talent assessment, and market dynamics
Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated ability to influence leaders, manage competing priorities, and drive alignment throughout the hiring process
Drive & Urgency: You thrive in fast-moving environments with evolving priorities and ambitious hiring goals
Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders and build trust with candidates
Metrics-Minded: You use recruiting data and pipeline metrics to identify opportunities, improve processes, and consistently deliver results
Tools: Proficiency with ATS platforms (Ashby a plus), LinkedIn Recruiter, and modern recruiting tools, with the ability to quickly learn new systems
Extra CreditExperience recruiting for high-growth AI or technology companies
Experience hiring individual contributors and leadership talent
Prior agency or contract recruiting experience
Experience supporting organizations through periods of rapid scale
Comfort with ambiguity and a willingness to help shape recruiting strategy in a fast-moving environment
Type: Contract role
Duration: Initial 3-month term with strong potential for extension based on business needs and performance
Location: San Francisco (5 days/week in office)
Scope: Full-time focus on recruiting for priority business hiring across multiple functions
Skills Required
- 5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience
- Proven success recruiting across business functions (Operations, Finance, People, Legal, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Strategy, Communications)
- Experience partnering with leaders and hiring managers to shape hiring strategy and assess talent
- Ability to build and manage proactive candidate pipelines through sourcing, referrals, and networking
- Experience tracking recruiting activity and maintaining data integrity in an ATS (Ashby experience a plus)
- Proficiency with LinkedIn Recruiter and modern recruiting tools
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, stakeholder management, and urgency in fast-paced environments
- Based in San Francisco and able to work 5 days/week in the office
- Experience recruiting for high-growth technology or AI companies
- Experience hiring both individual contributors and leadership roles
- Prior agency or contract recruiting experience
- Comfort with ambiguity and willingness to help shape recruiting strategy
Handshake Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Handshake and has not been reviewed or approved by Handshake.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off practices include flexible/unlimited PTO, companywide recharge weeks in summer and winter, plus additional volunteer and personal holiday time. Feedback suggests sabbaticals and coordinated breaks help people actually use rest time.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental leave is described as extended for primary and secondary caregivers, and family-oriented policies are highlighted. Fertility and family-support resources are referenced in public materials.
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Healthcare Strength — Core coverage spans medical, dental, and vision, with added mental-health resources and wellness programming. Feedback suggests these supports contribute meaningfully to overall wellbeing.
Handshake Insights
What We Do
Handshake is the #1 place to launch a career with no connections, experience, or luck required. The platform connects up-and-coming talent with 650,000+ employers - from Fortune 500 companies like Google, Nike, and Target to thousands of public school districts, healthcare systems, and nonprofits. Earlier this year, we announced our $200M Series F funding round. This Series F fundraise and new valuation of $3.5B will fuel Handshake’s next phase of growth and propel our mission to help more people start, restart, and jumpstart their careers.
Why Work With Us
How someone builds their career is foundational. We believe in working with the higher education community to help students build meaningful careers. We are at the nexus of universities, students and employers— and we’re able to connect the very best pieces of each side. We’re proud to create a community where students can be more successful.
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