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
About Handshake AI
Human data is the core infrastructure to AI advancement. Frontier AI labs currently improve model capabilities with various data-intensive post-training techniques. We believe that data spend for AI training will increase by 3-5x in the next few years and continue for much longer as models take on new domains. Handshake AI supports all of the frontier AI labs, working on their most complex data at the largest scale.
Handshake is hiring a Senior Recruiter to lead hiring efforts for strategic business and operational roles. You’ll partner closely with senior management to shape and scale critical functions that power Handshake AI’s next phase of growth.
This role requires a background in hiring strategy and business operations professionals, as well as the ability to translate evolving company needs into effective hiring strategies. You’ll be a trusted advisor to stakeholders across the business and a key contributor to building high-performing, mission-aligned teams.
This role requires working five days in-office at our Seattle office location.
Strategic Talent Partner: Partner with executives and hiring managers to understand org design needs, influence headcount planning, and advise on the best hiring strategies for operations and G&A roles.
Full-Cycle Ownership: Lead the end-to-end recruitment process—from sourcing and screening through interviews, offer negotiation, and close.
Pipeline Development: Build candidate pools for hard-to-fill key roles. Search for possible hires in different locations. Connect with those not currently job hunting and keep in touch with them regularly.
Market Intelligence: Provide insights on talent trends, compensation benchmarks, and competitive dynamics to inform hiring decisions and set expectations.
Operational Excellence: Drive continuous improvement in recruiting processes, leveraging data to optimize performance and deliver against key metrics.
Extraordinary Candidate Experience: Ensure every candidate has a high-quality, values-aligned experience that reflects our brand and culture.
Recruiting Expertise: 5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with a solid track record hiring for strategic business and operations functions (e.g., BizOps, Corporate Strategy, Finance, Legal, Marketing).
Strategic Acumen: Deep knowledge of business operations and organizational strategy; able to contextualize roles within the broader business and influence how they’re scoped.
Executive Partnership: Skilled at building trust and credibility with senior leaders; capable of pushing back thoughtfully and guiding decisions with data and insights.
Sourcing Mastery: Experience sourcing for niche and high-impact roles using tools like LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, CRM, and industry networks.
Process-Oriented: Comfortable working in structured recruiting environments and optimizing processes in an ATS (e.g., Ashby, Greenhouse).
Analytical Approach: Data-driven mindset with the ability to track, report, and iterate on recruiting performance and hiring funnel metrics.
Great Communicator: Robust written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to craft compelling outreach and articulate value propositions.
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, 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 bonuses
Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.
Skills Required
- 5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience
- Track record hiring for strategic business and operations functions, such as BizOps, corporate strategy, finance, legal, or marketing
- Deep knowledge of business operations and organizational strategy
- Ability to influence role scoping and hiring decisions
- Experience partnering with senior leaders and advising stakeholders using data and insights
- Experience sourcing niche and high-impact roles using LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, CRM, and industry networks
- Experience working in structured recruiting environments and optimizing processes in an ATS such as Ashby or Greenhouse
- Ability to track, report, and improve recruiting performance and hiring funnel metrics
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to work five days per week in the Seattle office
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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