Machine Learning Engineer I, Network

Apply; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Ownership

Financial Wellness

Family Support

Wellbeing

Growth

Remote & Office

Time Off

Connection

Job summary

Handshake is hiring a Machine Learning Engineer for the Network and Handshake AI Marketplace Relevance team. In this role, you’ll build and improve machine learning systems powering job search, recommendations, user understanding, and embeddings across the Handshake platform.

You will work closely with experienced ML engineers, data scientists, product managers, and software engineers to develop models, run experiments, and deploy reliable ML solutions to production, with a focus on

Qualifications

• 3+ years of professional experience in machine learning, data science, software engineering, or a related field.
• Proficiency in Python and experience with ML frameworks such as scikit-learn, PyTorch, or TensorFlow.
• Experience building, evaluating, and deploying machine learning models in production.
• Familiarity with one or more relevant areas, such as recommendations, search, personalization, ranking, NLP, deep learning, or LLMs.
• Understanding of core ML concepts, including classification, regression, ranking, feature engineering, and model evaluation.
• Experience working with data pipelines, experiment tracking, model monitoring, or other parts of the ML lifecycle.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals and the ability to write reliable, maintainable code.
• Experience working collaboratively with engineers, data scientists, product managers, and other cross-functional partners.
• Ability to break down moderately complex problems, evaluate tradeoffs, and deliver solutions with support from senior team members.
• A focus on measurable results and improving the end-user experience.

Responsibilities

• Build and improve machine learning models for search, recommendations, notifications, user understanding, and embeddings.
• Develop, test, and deploy models and supporting services in a production environment.
• Work with large datasets to create features, train models, and evaluate performance.
• Contribute to retrieval, ranking, personalization, and experimentation systems.
• Monitor production models and help improve their quality, reliability, latency, and scalability.
• Partner with product, engineering, and data science to translate business and user needs into practical ML solutions.
• Participate in technical design discussions, code reviews, and team planning.
• Use experimentation and marketplace metrics to measure the impact of your work.
• Contribute to team standards and best practices for model development, evaluation, and deployment.

Skills

Python

ML frameworks (scikit-learn, PyTorch,

Production ML

Recommendations/Ranking/NLP/LLMs

ML concepts (classification, ranking)

ML lifecycle & pipelines

Software engineering fundamentals

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem decomposition

User impact & UX focus

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Job 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. 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 with world-class AI labs, Fortune 500 companies, and the world’s leading educational institutions

• Work alongside engineers, scientists, operators, and more from Palantir, Meta, Scale AI, and former YC founders

• Help build a massive, fast-growing business with billions in revenue

About Handshake AI

Human data is the core infrastructure of AI advancement. Frontier AI labs currently improve model capabilities through various data-intensive post-training techniques. We believe spending on AI training data will increase by 3–5x over the next few years and continue growing as models expand into new domains. Handshake AI supports all frontier AI labs, working on their most complex data challenges at significant scale.

About the Role

Handshake is hiring a Machine Learning Engineer for the Network and Handshake AI Marketplace Relevance team. AI is transforming how students navigate their careers, and we’re committed to developing innovative, responsible AI-powered solutions that connect students with meaningful career opportunities.

In this role, you’ll build and improve the machine learning systems that power job search and recommendations, user understanding, personalized notifications, and core embedding models across the Handshake platform. You’ll work closely with experienced machine learning engineers, data scientists, product managers, and software engineers to develop models, run experiments, and deploy reliable ML solutions to production.

The team works with retrieval and ranking approaches including graph-based models, bi-encoders, semantic cross-encoders, and multi-stage rankers, supported by a data platform containing billions of data points. The team is also exploring emerging areas such as generative retrieval and post-training. Your work will directly contribute to improving marketplace outcomes while supporting Handshake’s commitment to explainability, fairness, and responsible AI.

What You’ll Do

• Build and improve machine learning models for search, recommendations, notifications, user understanding, and embeddings

• Develop, test, and deploy models and supporting services in a production environment

• Work with large datasets to create features, train models, and evaluate performance

• Contribute to retrieval, ranking, personalization, and experimentation systems

• Monitor production models and help improve their quality, reliability, latency, and scalability

• Partner with product, engineering, and data science to translate business and user needs into practical ML solutions

• Participate in technical design discussions, code reviews, and team planning

• Use experimentation and marketplace metrics to measure the impact of your work

• Contribute to team standards and best practices for model development, evaluation, and deployment

Desired Capabilities

• 3+ years of professional experience in machine learning, data science, software engineering, or a related field

• Proficiency in Python and experience with ML frameworks such as scikit-learn, PyTorch, or TensorFlow

• Experience building, evaluating, and deploying machine learning models in production

• Familiarity with one or more relevant areas, such as recommendations, search, personalization, ranking, NLP, deep learning, or LLMs

• Understanding of core ML concepts, including classification, regression, ranking, feature engineering, and model evaluation

• Experience working with data pipelines, experiment tracking, model monitoring, or other parts of the ML lifecycle

• Strong software engineering fundamentals and the ability to write reliable, maintainable code

• Experience working collaboratively with engineers, data scientists, product managers, and other cross-functional partners

• Ability to break down moderately complex problems, evaluate tradeoffs, and deliver solutions with support from senior team members

• A focus on measurable results and improving the end-user experience

Extra Credit

• Experience with embedding-based retrieval, multi-stage ranking, graph-based models, or recommender systems

• Experience working with large-scale datasets or high-traffic cloud-based production systems

• Familiarity with generative retrieval, LLM evaluation, or post-training techniques

• Interest in explainable AI, fairness, or responsible machine learning

• Clear communication skills and an interest in contributing to team practices and technical standards

Perks

Handshake delivers benefits that help you feel supported—and thrive at work and in life.

The benefits below are for full-time US employees.

• Ownership: Equity in a fast-growing company

• Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, and financial coaching

• Family Support: Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, and parental coaching

• Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision coverage, mental health support, and a $500 wellness stipend

• Growth: $2,000 learning stipend and ongoing development

• Remote & Office: Internet and commuting support, plus free lunch and gym access in our SF office

• Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays, and two flex days

• Connection: Team outings and referral bonuses