Staff Product Designer

Handshake; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in company

401(k) match

Parental leave

Wellbeing stipend

Learning stipend

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Handshake in San Francisco is seeking a Staff Product Designer to shape the Network experience, onboarding millions of users, and driving growth across acquisition, activation, and referrals. You’ll own end-to-end design from concept through post-launch iteration, collaborating with product, engineering, data science, marketing, and brand teams.

You bring 7+ years designing consumer-facing products at scale, a track record delivering high-quality experiences for large user bases, and a growth

Qualifications

• 7+ years of product design experience.
• Experience designing products with millions of active users.
• Strong communicator who articulates design decisions and tradeoffs.
• Deep visual and interaction design expertise with measurable impact.
• Experience designing for growth: acquisition, onboarding, activation, referrals or other lifecycle experiences.
• Comfortable using generative AI tools to accelerate ideation and prototyping.

Responsibilities

• Partner with product, engineering, marketing, data science, and content teams to define problems, shape product strategy, and deliver compelling consumer experiences.
• Own design end-to-end from concept through post-launch iteration: flows, prototypes, high-fidelity mocks, and implementation collaboration.
• Design experiences across acquisition, onboarding, activation, referrals, and network growth to drive value and engagement.
• Translate behavioral insights and user needs into simple, intuitive experiences.
• Iterate quickly through wireframes, prototypes, and experiments to validate ideas and optimize conversion and retention.
• Collaborate across cross-functional teams to design growth experiments on landing pages, onboarding, referrals, and viral touchpoints.
• Maintain a strong craft in visual design and systems thinking while focusing on user outcomes.

Job description

About Handshake

Handshake is the career network built for the AI economy. With 20 million knowledge workers, 1,600 educational institutions, 1 million employers—including 100% of the Fortune 50—and every major AI lab trusting Handshake to power career discovery, hiring, and upskilling, we sit at the intersection of talent and opportunity at a pivotal moment in history. From freelance AI training gigs to first internships to full-time careers, Handshake is where professional journeys begin and evolve. That unique position is driving extraordinary growth: in 2025, we tripled our ARR at scale.

About the Role

As a Staff Product Designer on the Network team at Handshake, you'll design the experiences that introduce millions of people to Handshake and help them build lasting professional relationships throughout their careers. You'll own the end-to-end experience across acquisition, onboarding, activation, referrals, and network growth—creating intuitive, engaging experiences that help users discover opportunities, connect with their communities, and realize value from their very first interaction.

This team sits at the heart of Handshake's growth strategy, shaping how users first discover the platform, build their professional network, and develop habits that keep them coming back. You'll work on high-impact consumer experiences where exceptional craft, experimentation, and user psychology come together to drive meaningful business outcomes. As a Staff Designer, you'll help define the future of the Handshake network while partnering closely with product, engineering, data science, marketing, and brand to build products that millions of people use.

Your Role

• Partner closely with product, engineering, marketing, data science, and content teams to define problems, shape product strategy, and deliver exceptional consumer experiences.


• Own design end-to-end, from early concept through post-launch iteration: user flows, interaction prototypes, high-fidelity mocks, and collaboration through implementation.


• Design experiences across acquisition, onboarding, activation, referrals, and network growth that help users quickly discover value and build lasting engagement.


• Tackle complex, ambiguous consumer design problems by translating behavioral insights and user needs into simple, intuitive experiences.


• Rapidly iterate through wireframes, prototypes, and experiments to validate ideas and optimize conversion, engagement, and retention.


• Partner with cross-functional teams to design and refine growth experiments across landing pages, onboarding flows, referral programs, viral mechanics, and conversion touchpoints.


• Obsess over craft, bringing a strong point of view on visual design, interaction design, and systems thinking while maintaining a relentless focus on user outcomes.

Your Experience

• 7+ years of product design experience, ideally building consumer-facing products at scale.


• Experience designing products with millions of active users, ideally in social, marketplace, network-driven, or consumer growth environments.


• Strong communicator who clearly articulates design decisions, tradeoffs, user insights, and the thinking behind them to partners and leadership.


• Deep visual and interaction design expertise, with a proven track record of shipping high-quality consumer experiences that drive measurable impact.


• Experience designing for growth, including acquisition, onboarding, activation, engagement, referrals, or other user lifecycle experiences.


• Comfortable incorporating generative AI tools into the design process to accelerate ideation, prototyping, and iteration, while maintaining a high bar for product thinking, craft, and user experience.


• Comfortable using qualitative and quantitative insights to inform design decisions, evaluate experiments, and iterate quickly.


• Highly collaborative. You value diverse perspectives and partner effectively across engineering, product, data science, marketing, and brand.


• Design-led thinker who raises the bar by embedding design thinking into product development and helping others grow.


• Impact-driven. You prioritize ruthlessly and focus on the work that matters most.


• Gritty and hands-on. You're willing to roll up your sleeves and take ownership—nothing is "someone else's problem."


• Deeply motivated by Handshake's mission and committed to helping people build meaningful careers in the AI economy.


• Curious and always learning, with a growth mindset.

Bonus Points

• Experience designing growth experiences, including onboarding, referrals, social sharing, viral loops, SEO/content surfaces, or registration optimization.


• Familiarity with product-led growth, network effects, marketplaces, or multi-sided platforms.


• Passion for early-career professionals, the future of work, or the intersection of AI and human potential.

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.