Senior Software Engineer, Operator Tooling
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Overview
Job Description
About Handshake
Handshake is the career network for the AI economy. 20 million knowledge workers, 1,600 educational institutions, 1 million employers (including 100% of the Fortune 50), and every foundational AI lab trust Handshake to power career discovery, hiring, and upskilling, from freelance AI training gigs to first internships to full-time careers and beyond. This unique value is leading to unparalleled growth; in 2025, we tripled our ARR at scale.
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
Work hand-in-hand with world-class AI labs, Fortune 500 partners and the world's top educational institutions
Join a team with leadership from Scale AI, Meta, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir, among others
Build a massive, fast-growing business with billions in revenue
About the Role
As a Senior Software Engineer on Operating Tooling, you'll build internal products and automation that help Handshake's operators run the business at high quality and speed. This team functions like an embedded/consulting engineering group: you'll partner directly with operators, learn their workflows deeply, and deliver pragmatic solutions that remove friction, improve quality, and enable new operational capabilities.
This role is highly collaborative and communication-heavy. Success requires strong technical fundamentals plus high EQ-someone who can translate ambiguous operational needs into reliable systems, and iteratively ship improvements that stick.
In this role, you will:
Embed with operators to understand processes, pain points, and success metrics; translate them into clear technical requirements and deliverables.
Architect and build internal tools, automations, and workflows that improve operational throughput, accuracy, and visibility.
Lead projects end-to-end: discovery, scoping, technical design, implementation, rollout, and iteration.
Balance speed and quality by making thoughtful tradeoffs, ensuring maintainability, and building with operational reliability in mind.
Collaborate closely with cross-functional partners (operators, engineering, product) to drive adoption and measurable impact.
Mentor other engineers and help establish strong engineering practices for an internal-tools environment.
Desired Capabilities
5+ years of software engineering experience, with comfort owning systems end-to-end (from requirements through production support).
Strong communication skills and stakeholder management; able to partner deeply with non-engineering teams and operate with high empathy/EQ.
Experience building internal tools, workflow systems, or automation for operations-heavy teams (or analogous customer-embedded roles like FDE / solutions engineering).
Strong engineering judgment: can design scalable systems, pick the right level of abstraction, and avoid over-building.
Track record of delivering iterative, high-leverage improvements in ambiguous environments.
Extra Credit
Experience with workflow/backlog systems, intake processes, and operational analytics (instrumentation, dashboards, QA).
Comfort operating in a "player-coach" environment (mix of hands-on building plus lightweight coordination/mentorship as the team grows).
Background building tooling for knowledge-work operations (e.g., case management, review/approval flows, data quality tooling).
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, wellness stipend
Growth: 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.
Automate your job search with Sonara.
Submit 10x as many applications with less effort than one manual application.
