In 2014, Handshake 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 ~$15M to 30K+ individuals every week.
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 feel
Partner hand-in-hand with world-class AI labs, Fortune 500 partners and the world’s top educational institutions
Work together with engineers, scientists, operators, and more from Scale AI, Palantir, Meta, and former YC founders
Build a massive, fast-growing business with billions in revenue
Handshake’s grown to ~$1B in revenue in record time, and we’ve hired over 25 ex-founders along the way.
This role is different.
We’re looking for an Entrepreneur to join the CEO Office. You’ll partner directly with our founders and exec team and tackle the hardest problems at Handshake, building 0-to-1 motions across product, GTM, operations, and more.
That could mean standing up a new internal capability, driving a top priority from idea to execution, building the operating system for an emerging part of the business, or stepping into an urgent company-wide problem and creating order out of ambiguity. You’ll be expected to go deep quickly, build strong points of view, align stakeholders, and personally drive intiatives forward.
You’ll have high ownership and directly contribute to the success of the company.
A past founder, early employee at a fast-growing startup, or with experience in the venture ecosystem
Have ambitions of becoming a founder in the future
Spiky in at least one domain, well-rounded in others
Killer operator who can build 0-to-1 initiatives in product, GTM, operations, and other areas with the CEO
Gifted communicator to accelerate the organization by driving alignment internally and represent Handshake to external tech and AI communities
Move fast, drive outcomes, and leave nothing to chance
For cash compensation, we set standard ranges for all U.S.-based 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.
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: Stipends for home office setup, internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office
Handshake is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
If you require a reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to [email protected].
Skills Required
- Experience as a founder or early employee in a fast-growing startup.
- Ability to build 0-to-1 initiatives in product, GTM, and operations.
- Excellent communication skills to drive internal alignment and represent the company externally.
- Well-rounded with expertise in multiple domains related to operations.
- Ambition to become a founder in the future.
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Gallery







