Strategic Projects Lead, Safety

Handshake; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

401(k) match

Parental leave

Wellbeing stipend

Learning stipend

Mental health support

Team outings

Job summary

Handshake is seeking a Strategic Projects Lead (SPL), Safety, to own large-scale human data programs powering frontier AI model training and evaluation. You will design, build, and execute workflows for model policy annotation, informing training, evaluation, and enforcement decisions across leading AI systems.

In this high-ownership role, you will work with top AI labs and industry partners to drive scope, resolve issues, and mature safety policies while maintaining accountability for results

Qualifications

• 2+ years in trust and safety, policy enforcement, regulatory compliance, risk management, or related field.
• Strong analytical and first-principles problem-solving skills applied to scaling operations; proficiency in SQL (or similar) to draw insights from large data sets.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, including with senior customers.
• High ownership mindset with pride in end-to-end accountability.
• Curiosity and ability to quickly learn technical AI concepts and industry trends.

Responsibilities

• Design and architect annotation frameworks and labeling workflows that scale effectively while maintaining high precision, accuracy, and inter-rater agreement.
• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of trusted annotators, fostering a culture of precision, consistency, and care given the sensitive nature of the work while addressing complex edge cases, and identify policy inconsistencies.
• Collaborate with policy leads to offer organized insights regarding gaps, classification ambiguities, and nuanced scenarios derived from practical data annotation.
• Construct and iterate on detailed annotation playbooks and auditor resources to drive precision and alignment across diverse datasets and regulatory domains.
• Detect and surface novel data trends, systemic labeling errors, and strategic opportunities to harden and mature internal safety policies.
• Partner directly with frontier AI labs and senior stakeholders to shape scope, resolve issues, and expand model policy programs through execution.

Skills

Trust and safety

SQL

Stakeholder management

Ownership mindset

AI concepts

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.

The Role

As a Strategic Projects Lead (SPL), Safety, you will own the execution of large-scale human data programs that directly power frontier AI model training and evaluation. You will design, build, and execute operational workflows supporting model policy annotation and develop evaluations across a range of policy areas. You will use model policy annotation to help inform model training, evaluation, and enforcement decisions across leading AI systems.

Working hands‑on with leading AI labs and technology companies, you will make real‑time decisions that affect revenue, margins, delivery quality, and long‑term customer relationships. This is a high‑ownership, outcomes‑driven role for operators who thrive in ambiguity, move fast with incomplete information, and are accountable for results at scale.

What you'll do:

• Design and architect annotation frameworks and labeling workflows that scale effectively while maintaining high precision, accuracy, and inter‑rater agreement

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of trusted annotators, fostering a culture of precision, consistency, and care given the sensitive nature of the work while addressing complex edge cases, and identify policy inconsistencies

• Collaborate with policy leads to offer organized insights regarding gaps, classification ambiguities, and nuanced scenarios derived from practical data annotation

• Construct and iterate on detailed annotation playbooks and auditor resources to drive precision and alignment across diverse datasets and regulatory domains

• Detect and surface novel data trends, systemic labeling errors, and strategic opportunities to harden and mature internal safety policies

• Partner directly with frontier AI labs and senior stakeholders to shape scope, resolve issues, and expand model policy programs through execution

You Have

• 2+ years of experience in trust and safety, policy enforcement, regulatory compliance, regulatory compliance, risk management, management consulting, government or related field

• Strong analytical and first‑principles problem‑solving skills applied to scaling operations; proficiency in SQL (or similar) to draw insights from large data sets

• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, including with senior customers

• High ownership mindset with pride in end‑to‑end accountability

• Curiosity and ability to quickly learn technical AI concepts and industry trends

Bonus Points

• Experience in scaling policy enforcement or content review workflows across large, distributed workforces

• Subject matter expertise in high severity policy harms, such as violent activities, dangerous organizations / individuals, or sexual activities

• Experience developing evaluations for harmful content or policy enforcement use‑cases

Note: This role involves exposure to sensitive or explicit content (e.g., violent, sexual, or otherwise disturbing material) as part of safety and policy evaluation work.

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.