R&D Strategy & Ops Manager, AI Frontier

Apply; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 230,000; 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

Learning stipend & career development

Remote & Office: SF office perks

Flexible PTO + holidays

Team outings & referral bonuses

Job summary

Handshake is seeking a Strategy & Operations Manager for R&D to extend Handshake AI capabilities. You will work at the intersection of scalable reinforcement learning environments, quality frameworks for frontier models, and large-scale coding initiatives driving real-world AI applications.

This role is a force multiplier, rotating across business units to maximize impact, build self-sustaining operating systems, and advance corporate AI capabilities with a strategic, hands-on approach.

Qualifications

• 6–8+ years in strategy & operations, chief of staff, or a hybrid role in a fast-moving R&D driven environment.
• Proven track record deploying across multi-team organizations and building durable operating systems.
• Ability to move between a technical AI research setting and consumer marketplace without loss of effectiveness.
• High judgment under ambiguity with the ability to push back when risks arise.

Responsibilities

• Deploy to highest-priority initiatives across R&D and establish sprint operating structures.
• Build trusted relationships with engineering and product leads and influence decisions.
• Identify friction and own playbooks, including automating workflows.
• Run org-wide rhythms: quarterly planning, execution, communications, and cross-team reporting.
• Escalate to the S&O lead with context, POV, and a plan.

Skills

Strategy & Ops

CoS experience

R&D environment

Executive presence

AI fluency

Relationship-building

Job description

Handshake is seeking a Strategy & Operations Manager for R&D to extend Handshake AI capabilities. You will work at the intersection of scalable reinforcement learning environments, quality frameworks for frontier models, and large-scale coding initiatives driving real-world AI applications.

This role is a force multiplier, rotating across business units to maximize impact, build self-sustaining operating systems, and advance corporate AI capabilities with a strategic, hands-on approach.