Staff Software Engineer, RLE

handshake; California (MO); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

401(k) match

Parental leave

Wellbeing support

Learning stipend

Commuting support

Free lunch

Gym in SF office

Flexible PTO

Team outings

Job summary

Handshake is hiring a Staff Software Engineer to lead the architecture and evolution of our RL Environments platform, guiding how frontier AI models learn real-world work. This is a high-impact technical leadership role focused on system design, cross-team alignment, and long-term technical direction.

The role requires 8+ years in distributed systems or ML platforms, strong design and data modeling skills, and proficiency with TypeScript, cloud environments, and modern web stacks.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in distributed systems or ML platforms.
• Strong system design and data modeling skills.
• Proficiency with TypeScript and modern web stacks.
• Experience operating high-scale production systems in cloud environments.
• Track record of technical leadership and cross-functional influence.

Responsibilities

• Define architecture for scalable, extensible RL environments and data pipelines.
• Lead development of platform capabilities enabling rapid domain creation.
• Partner with Research, Product, and Ops to shape strategy and execution.
• Set standards for reliability, observability, performance, and data quality.
• Mentor engineers and elevate engineering excellence across the team.
• Identify and solve systemic bottlenecks in scaling environments and data generation.

Skills

Distributed systems

Backend infrastructure

System design

TypeScript

Cloud environments

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP)

RL infrastructure

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 Handshake AI

Human data is the core infrastructure to AI advancement. Frontier AI labs currently improve model capabilities with various data-intensive post-training techniques. We believe that data spend for AI training will increase by 3-5x in the next few years and continue for much longer as models take on new domains. Handshake AI supports all of the frontier AI labs, working on their most complex data at the largest scale.

About the Role

We’re hiring a Staff Software Engineer to lead the architecture and evolution of our Reinforcement Learning Environments (RLE) platform—the systems that define how frontier AI models learn real-world work.

This is a high-impact, technical leadership role responsible for system design, cross-team alignment, and setting the long-term technical direction of RLE.

What You’ll Do

• Define and drive architecture for scalable, extensible RLE systems and data pipelines
• Lead development of platform capabilities enabling rapid domain creation
• Partner with Research, Product, and Ops to shape strategy and execution
• Set standards for reliability, observability, performance, and data quality
• Mentor engineers and elevate engineering excellence across the team
• Identify and solve systemic bottlenecks in scaling environments and data generation

What We’re Looking For

• 8+ years of experience in distributed systems, backend infrastructure, or ML platforms
• Deep expertise in system design, data modeling, and scalable architectures
• Strong proficiency with TypeScript, backend systems, and modern web stacks
• Proven experience operating high-scale production systems in cloud environments
• Track record of technical leadership and cross‑functional influence

Nice to Have

• Experience with RL infrastructure, simulation systems, or evaluation frameworks
• Background supporting applied AI/ML research teams
• Experience building platform‑level abstractions used across multiple teams

What Success Looks Like

• RLE becomes a foundational, trusted platform across teams and use cases
• New domains scale rapidly with minimal engineering overhead
• Systems demonstrate step‑function improvements in model quality and reliability
• Engineering velocity and system robustness increase across the organization

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, $500 wellness stipend

Growth: $2,000 learning stipend, ongoing development

Office: Commuting support, free lunch, and gym in our SF office

Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days

Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses