Manager, Strategic Programs

Handshake; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

401(k) match

Parental leave

Medical, dental, vision

Job summary

Handshake is hiring for a Manager of Strategic Programs to lead the Operator Enablement team’s quality control and tooling initiatives. You will scale our calibration processes, develop scalable workflows, and drive consistency across projects with SPLs and auditors.

You will start as an IC with growth potential to build a team, leveraging state-of-the-art AI tools and cross-functional collaboration to ensure reliable data for customers in the AI economy.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in forward-deployed/solutions engineering, strategy and operations, or technical program management.
• Technical degree in engineering, computer science, physical sciences, statistics/analytics, or economics.
• Highly technical with ability to deploy AI tools across complex workflows.
• Process oriented with a track record of scaling operational processes.
• Entrepreneurial, comfortable solving ambiguous problems and driving results.
• Strong communicator who can align stakeholders and deliver results.
• Willing and able to build and lead a team as scope grows.

Responsibilities

• Scale central quality control program to a calibrated quality read on every dataset before it reaches a customer.
• Grow from tens to hundreds of quality auditors and from hundreds to thousands of auditing hours per week.
• Augment auditing workflows with AI tools and prompt engineering to increase efficiency by a factor of 10.
• Embed quality processes into Delivery, working cross-functionally with project leads.

Skills

Strategy & operations

Technical program management

Strong communicator

Cross-functional collaboration

Leadership

AI tooling deployment

Education

STEM degree

Job description

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.

Now’s a great time to join Handshake. Here’s why:

• 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

The Operator Enablement team ensures our Strategic Project Leads (SPLs) can run their projects successfully, meet customer demand, and deliver high quality data. As a Manager of Strategic Programs on this team, you will build and own the systems, tooling, and processes that SPLs depend on, from their first week at Handshake through running projects at scale.

Your primary focus will be scaling our central quality control program — the processes and systems that give us a reliable, calibrated quality read on every dataset before it reaches a customer. You will start as an individual contributor with clear room to grow your scope and build a team underneath you as the work expands.

Core to the role:

• Grow from 10s to 100s of quality auditors and from 100s to 1000s of auditing hours per week, without sacrificing calibration or reliability
• Augment auditing workflows with state-of-the-art LLM tools and prompt engineering best practices, increasing the efficiency of these workflows by 10x
• Embed quality processes into the broader Delivery organization, working cross-functionally with project leads to ensure consistent adherence

Beyond quality, you could also work on:

• Build the onboarding experience that ramps dozens of new SPLs to full productivity every month
• Develop agentic operator tooling that makes SPLs roughly 10x more efficient at running their projects
• Launch an Emerging Talent program that identifies, trains, and recruits top students to join our Strategic Projects team as new grad SPLs straight out of college

Desired Capabilities

• 4+ years of experience in roles such as forward-deployed or solutions engineering, strategy and operations, or technical program management
• A technical degree in a STEM field such as engineering, computer science, the physical sciences, statistics or analytics, or economics
• Highly technical, with the ability to deploy cutting edge AI tools across complex operational workflows
• Process oriented, with a track record of building and scaling efficient operational processes
• Entrepreneurial, comfortable taking ambiguous problems and driving them to a clear result
• A strong communicator who can bring in stakeholders, align them, and inspire people to deliver results
• Willing and able to build and lead a team as the scope of the role grows

Extra Credit

• Founded or helped start a company
• Worked in engineering, product, or operations at an early-stage, fast-growing startup
• A track record of solving messy operational or highly cross-functional problems
• Experience with quality management or operational excellence practices from other industries (e.g., manufacturing, logistics, healthcare)
• Exposure to structured process-improvement thinking (like Lean, Six Sigma, or similar frameworks)

Perks

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.