Director, AI Product Counsel (Equity + Remote)

Handshake; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 260,000 - 360,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in fast-growing company

401(k) match

Financial coaching

Parental leave

Fertility benefits

Medical, dental, vision

Mental health support

Learning stipend

Ongoing development

Remote & Office: SF office perks

Flexible PTO

Holidays + flex days

Team outings

Referral bonuses

Job summary

Handshake is hiring an AI Product Counsel at the Director or Senior Director level in San Francisco. You will lead legal support for Handshake AI products and platforms, partnering with product, research, engineering, operations and GTM teams from design through launch to customers.

You will advise on complex AI data questions, privacy and IP law, and scale a fast-growing product counseling program while collaborating with commercial counsel on novel agreements and global contractor governance.

Qualifications

• JD and membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• 8+ years of legal experience, with significant in-house experience supporting product, platform, or emerging technology teams.
• Deep familiarity with privacy and intellectual property law, and with the laws governing AI and platform products.
• Track record of leading and scaling product counseling and legal review programs in fast-paced, high-growth environments.
• Experience working alongside commercial counsel on complex, novel commercial relationships.
• Strong technical fluency and curiosity; you enjoy partnering with engineers, researchers and product managers to understand how things work.
• Sound judgment under ambiguity: you can make a risk call where there is no precedent or playbook, explain it plainly and stand behind it.
• Exceptional communication skills and business judgment, balancing legal risk with strategic goals.
• Passion for Handshake’s mission to democratize access to opportunity and a deep interest in AI.

Responsibilities

• Embed with Handshake AI product, research, engineering, operations and go-to-market teams as their day-to-day legal partner, from early product design through launch and delivery to customers.
• Advise on the novel legal questions raised by new AI training and eval data products and modalities, including RL environments, personal and business data, and data in regulated domains such as health and finance.
• Support our work with frontier labs and enterprise customers. Partner with commercial counsel to structure novel deals and build scalable commercial programs on top of our products and platforms.
• Advise on the Handshake AI platform contractor experience end to end: terms, onboarding, identity and credential verification, quality controls, monitoring, and payouts across a global network.
• Build scalable product counseling and AI governance: AI-assisted intake and review workflows, playbooks, templates, data provenance and risk documentation, and self-serve guidance that let teams ship fast with confidence.

Job description

Handshake is hiring an AI Product Counsel at the Director or Senior Director level in San Francisco. You will lead legal support for Handshake AI products and platforms, partnering with product, research, engineering, operations and GTM teams from design through launch to customers.

You will advise on complex AI data questions, privacy and IP law, and scale a fast-growing product counseling program while collaborating with commercial counsel on novel agreements and global contractor governance.