Learning Design Lead, Handshake AI

Handshake; New York (NY); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in a fast-growing company

401(k) match and financial coaching

Paid parental leave and fertility benefits

Medical, dental, vision, and mental health support

$2,000 learning stipend

Flexible PTO and winter #ShakeBreak

Job summary

A leading AI career network company in New York is seeking a Learning Design Lead. The role focuses on instructional design and developing training solutions to improve the quality of AI training data. Candidates should have over 3 years of experience in technical training content creation and must thrive in evolving environments. This position offers equity, competitive compensation, and comprehensive benefits, including paid parental leave and professional development stipends.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of hands-on experience in instructional design and training content creation.
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into effective learning experiences.
• Experience in customer success, sales enablement, or technical consulting preferred.

Responsibilities

• Create training collateral within 24-48 hours for Operators.
• Diagnose learning gaps from learner mistakes and project quality.
• Refine training based on learner quality metrics and satisfaction.
• Train Operators in instructional design fundamentals and assessment methods.
• Build infrastructure for reusable training materials and ensure consistency.

Skills

Instructional design

Technical training content creation

Understanding of AI training methodologies

Fast-paced environment adaptation

Job description

Overview

About Handshake AI
Handshake is building the career network for the AI economy. Our three-sided marketplace connects 18 million students and alumni, 1,500+ academic institutions across the U.S. and Europe, and 1 million employers to power how the next generation explores careers, builds skills, and gets hired.

Handshake AI is a human data labeling business that leverages the scale of the largest early career network. We work directly with the world's leading AI research labs to build a new generation of human data products. From PhDs in physics to undergrads fluent in LLMs, Handshake AI is the trusted partner for domain-specific data and evaluation at scale.

This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing team shaping the future of AI through better data, better tools, and better systems—for experts, by experts.

Why Join Handshake

• Leading the AI Career Revolution: Be part of the team redefining work in the AI economy for millions worldwide.
• Proven Market Demand: Deep employer partnerships across Fortune 500s and the world's leading AI research labs.
• World-Class Team: Leadership from Scale AI, Meta, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir, just to name a few.
• Capitalized & Scaling: $3.5B valuation from top investors including Kleiner Perkins, True Ventures, Notable Capital, and more.

About The Role

This role is for someone who wants to 10x themselves. As a Learning Design Lead, you'll be the tactical expert connecting our Operations teams to Fellow success. Operating in a fast-paced "forward deployed" model, you'll work directly with Operators to rapidly build, ship, and iterate on training solutions — ensuring our Fellows deliver the highest quality AI training data across diverse and evolving projects.

You'll embed with Operations teams launching new projects, scaling existing ones, or tackling quality challenges head-on. You'll need to grasp project requirements quickly, spot training gaps in real-time, and deploy targeted learning solutions within days—not weeks. Your mission: enable Operators to hit their Fellow quality and throughput goals through exceptional training design and rapid execution.

What You'll Do

• Move fast on training requests: Turn around project-specific training collateral (playbooks, courses, assessments) within 24-48 hours, and build self-serve resources that help Operators become independent training creators
• Diagnose and fix learning gaps: Dig into learner mistakes, project quality issues, and Operator feedback to pinpoint training gaps—then develop targeted interventions and scalable solutions
• Iterate relentlessly on effectiveness: Track learner quality metrics, completion rates, and satisfaction scores to continuously refine both Fellow training and Operator enablement approaches
• Level up Operators: Train Operators on instructional design fundamentals, feedback techniques, and quality assessment methods so they can better support Fellow development
• Build reusable infrastructure: Create template libraries, content design systems, and frameworks that let Operators independently produce quality training materials while keeping consistency across projects

Desired Capabilities

• 3+ years of hands-on experience in instructional design and technical training content creation, with a track record of translating complex technical concepts into effective learning experiences
• Thrive in fast-paced, constantly evolving environments where requirements shift and projects launch on tight timelines
• Background in AI or other STEM fields with enough technical depth to understand AI training methodologies and their implications
• Enablement experience strongly preferred: experience in customer success, sales enablement, or technical consulting where you've had to rapidly upskill diverse audiences

Perks

• 🎯 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
• 🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days, winter #ShakeBreak where our whole office closes for a week!
• 🤝 Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses

Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.