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 ~$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 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 Palantir, Meta, Scale AI, and former YC founders
Build a massive, fast-growing business with billions in revenue
The Senior Engineering Manager of Growth Engineering at Handshake owns one of the most strategically important growth levers and platforms in the company — the systems that power how we acquire, activate, and retain users across the entire Handshake ecosystem.
This isn't a single-product role. You'll lead a platform that cuts across every surface of Handshake, serving as a foundational lever for company growth. You'll partner closely with Product, Data, and Marketing to define what the growth loop looks like at scale — and then build the infrastructure and product capabilities to make it real. You'll lead a growing team of engineers and are expected to up level and build leadership capacity as the team scales.
Location: San Francisco, CA. This is an in-office role, 5 days/week (no remote/hybrid).
What You'll DoLead and grow a high-performing Growth Engineering team — hire, develop, and retain strong engineers; build the leadership layer needed to scale
Own the full growth funnel — acquisition, activation, retention, and notification systems that move the needle on Handshake's core growth metrics
Build a scalable, extensible growth platform — modular infrastructure that enables rapid experimentation, personalization, and lifecycle targeting across the product
Drive architecture and technical strategy — design systems for reliability, performance, and speed-to-ship, balancing platform investments with high-impact product bets
Partner cross-functionally — work shoulder-to-shoulder with Product, Data Science, and Marketing to align on growth strategy and execution
Raise the engineering bar — champion strong fundamentals: observability, experimentation rigor, data integrity, and engineering quality at scale
Operate with ownership and velocity — set the standard for a team culture that moves fast, takes accountability, and delivers in ambiguous, high-stakes environments
Engineering leader + builder: 4+ years managing engineering teams, 5+ years of hands-on engineering experience
Growth or platform background: Experience owning systems that drive user acquisition, activation, or retention — or platform infrastructure that powers growth at scale
Strong people leadership: Track record of developing senior engineers; experience managing managers or equivalent scope is a strong plus
Execution in ambiguity: Able to align cross-functionally, build clarity from ambiguity, and deliver iteratively in fast-moving environments
Balanced product + systems mindset: Can translate business and growth goals into technical roadmaps, ship with urgency, and measure outcomes rigorously
Experience building experimentation platforms, A/B testing infrastructure, or personalization systems
Background in lifecycle marketing infrastructure (notifications, email, push, in-app messaging)
Familiarity with growth analytics, funnel instrumentation, or event tracking at scale
Experience in two-sided marketplace or consumer/prosumer products
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.
Skills Required
- 4+ years managing engineering teams
- 5+ years of hands-on engineering experience
- Experience owning systems that drive user acquisition, activation, or retention or platform infrastructure that powers growth
- Track record of developing senior engineers
- Experience managing managers or equivalent scope
- Ability to align cross-functionally and execute in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
- Balanced product and systems mindset; translate business goals into technical roadmaps and measure outcomes
- Experience building experimentation platforms, A/B testing infrastructure, or personalization systems
- Background in lifecycle marketing infrastructure (notifications, email, push, in-app messaging)
- Familiarity with growth analytics, funnel instrumentation, or event tracking at scale
- Experience in two-sided marketplace or consumer/prosumer products
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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