Relationship Manager - Strategic

Handshake; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

401(k) match

Parental leave

Medical, dental, vision

Wellbeing stipend

Learning stipend

SF office access

Flexible PTO

Referral bonuses

Job summary

Handshake is seeking a Relationship Manager for our Education Success team in San Francisco. You’ll own a portfolio of education partners, drive adoption, and lead retention and renewal efforts.

You will collaborate with Support, Sales, Product, and Marketing to deliver a strong partner experience and support renewals, growth, and long-term success.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of customer success, account management, or partner-facing experience.
• Experience managing a strategic book of business and building tailored support strategies.
• Proven ability to drive onboarding, adoption, retention, and renewal outcomes.
• Strong SaaS product aptitude and ability to quickly learn complex systems.
• Experience navigating complex customer relationships and handling nuanced conversations with confidence.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with a polished, professional presence.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to use data and judgment to assess account health and prioritize action.
• High attention to detail, strong project management skills, and the ability to work cross-functionally in a fast-moving environment.

Responsibilities

• Own a portfolio of education partners to drive retention, renewals, and expansion opportunities across your book of business.
• Build tailored engagement programs, trainings, and touchpoints to increase product adoption and improve partner health at scale.
• Leverage customer feedback, usage data, and health signals to identify risk early and drive proactive action plans that improve outcomes.
• Partner cross-functionally with Support, Sales, Product, and Marketing to resolve partner needs efficiently and strengthen the overall customer experience.

Skills

Customer success

Account management

Relationship management

SaaS product aptitude

Data analysis

Tools

CRM tools

MS Excel/Sheets

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 hand‑in‑hand with world‑class AI labs, Fortune 500 partners and the world’s top educational institutions
• Work together with engineers, scientists, operators, and more from Palantir, Meta, Scale AI, and former YC founders
• Build a massive, fast‑growing business with billions in revenue

About The Role

As a Relationship Manager on our Education Success team, you’ll own a book of education partners and help ensure they are successful, engaged, and retained. This role is all about building strong partner relationships, driving product adoption, and proactively managing account health to support renewals and long‑term growth. You’ll act as both a strategic advisor and customer advocate, partnering closely with Support, Sales, Product, and Marketing to deliver a strong partner experience. You should expect 25%- 35% of your time to be travel, with additional variance based on seasonality and business need.

• Own a portfolio of education partners to drive retention, renewals, and expansion opportunities across your book of business
• Build tailored engagement programs, trainings, and touchpoints to increase product adoption and improve partner health at scale
• Leverage customer feedback, usage data, and health signals to identify risk early and drive proactive action plans that improve outcomes
• Partner cross‑functionally with Support, Sales, Product, and Marketing to resolve partner needs efficiently and strengthen the overall customer experience

You Have

Must‑Haves

• 2+ years of customer success, account management, or partner‑facing experience
• Experience managing a strategic book of business and building tailored support strategies
• Proven ability to drive onboarding, adoption, retention, and renewal outcomes
• Strong SaaS product aptitude and ability to quickly learn complex systems
• Experience navigating complex customer relationships and handling nuanced conversations with confidence
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with a polished, professional presence
• Analytical mindset with the ability to use data and judgment to assess account health and prioritize action
• High attention to detail, strong project management skills, and the ability to work cross‑functionally in a fast‑moving environment

Bonus Points

• Experience supporting higher education, career services, or education‑focused customers
• Experience creating customer‑facing enablement content like trainings, webinars, or scaled programs
• Familiarity with the Handshake platform

We Offer

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, $500 wellness stipend
• Growth: $2,000 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.