Handshake
Senior Software Engineer, Consumer Experience
Edtech.com's Summary
- Lead design and development of features that improve user engagement and streamline student-employer connections
- Architect and scale distributed systems supporting millions of users with high availability
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align engineering with business goals
- Mentor engineers and promote a culture of technical excellence
- Champion engineering best practices for product quality and team efficiency
- Proficiency in Go, Python, or Typescript and strong experience with PostgreSQL
- Knowledge of cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP and modern system design principles
- 5+ years of experience building large-scale, complex distributed systems
- Desirable experience with search, recommendation systems, or AI-powered applications including LLMs
- Benefits include equity, 401(k) match, paid parental leave, medical/dental/vision coverage, learning stipend, flexible PTO, and team outings
Senior Software Engineer, Consumer Experience Full Description
About Handshake
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. Weâve 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 worldâs 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.
About the Role
As a Senior Software Engineer on the Consumer Experience team, you'll build the products that connect millions of students with employers. You'll drive meaningful technical initiatives, shape the technical direction of the team, and deliver high-quality, scalable solutions that directly impact one of the fastest-growing career platforms in the world.
Your Role
Lead the design and development of consumer-facing features that enhance user engagement and streamline the student-employer connection process
Architect and scale distributed systems to support millions of users, ensuring high availability and performance
Influence technical direction by collaborating with cross-functional teams to align engineering efforts with business goals
Bring a startup mindset â ship quickly, iterate based on real user feedback, and favor pragmatic solutions that deliver value over premature polish
Mentor and elevate engineers across the team, fostering a culture of growth and technical excellence
Champion engineering best practices that raise the bar on product quality and team efficiency
Desired Capabilities
5+ years of software engineering experience with a proven track record of owning and delivering large-scale, complex distributed systems
Ability to work independently on well-scoped technical problems, with growing influence on team-level technical decisions
Strong proficiency in Go, Python, or Typescript with a focus on maintainable, high-quality production systems
Solid experience with relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL, including schema design and query performance
Solid understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and modern system design principles
Comfort operating with ambiguity and moving fast in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment
Exceptional communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences
Extra Credit
Background in search, recommendations, ranking systems, or personalization
Experience building AI-powered agentic systems, including LLM-based applications
Prior experience in high-growth or rapidly scaling environments
Perks
Handshake delivers benefits that help you feel supportedâand thrive at work and in life.
The below benefits are for full-time US employees.
ð¯ Ownership: Equity in a fast-growing company
ð° Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, financial coaching
ð¼ Family Support: Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, parental coaching
ð Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, wellness stipend
ð Growth: Learning stipend, ongoing development
ð» Remote & Office: Internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office
ð Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days
ð¤ Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses
Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.
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