Manager, Strategic Projects

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 As Manager, Strategic Projects, you will lead an SPL team that sits at the center of our most critical AI data and evaluation work. This is a high intensity, high visibility role where you own delivery, quality, and scalability across some of our most important customer and lab programs. You will manage a team of SPLs across multiple high stakes AI data projects, set the standard for operational excellence, and act as the connective tissue between customers, researchers, procurement partners, Operations leadership, and Product and Engineering. You are comfortable in environments with high pressure and fast change, and you know how to keep teams aligned, motivated, and executing at a very high bar. You will be responsible for: - Leading and managing a team of SPLs across multiple complex AI data and evaluation projects, ensuring clarity of ownership, priorities, and execution. - Driving on time, high quality delivery across custom data pipelines and expert labeling workflows, with a sharp focus on throughput, quality, and cost. - Translating researcher and customer needs into clear project plans, scopes, and operational workflows that SPLs and Fellows can execute. - Owning performance metrics across your portfolio, including quality, throughput, SLAs, utilization, and margin, and using data to drive continuous improvement. - Ensuring a top tier experience for Handshake Fellows, enabling them to produce high quality, scalable data while feeling supported and informed. - Partnering with Product and Engineering to evolve internal tooling, workflows, and systems that unlock step function gains in efficiency and quality. What success looks like in the first 6 to 12 months: - Your SPL team consistently delivers on or ahead of commitments for our most important AI data and evaluation programs, with clear, referenceable wins. - Key operational metrics across your portfolio improve materially, such as quality, on time delivery, throughput, and margin. - SPLs see you as a trusted and supportive leader who raises the bar on performance while providing clear direction and coaching. - Product, Engineering, and Engagement teams proactively involve you in planning and scoping for new programs because they trust your judgment and operational instincts. You will work closely with: - Strategic Project Leads (SPLs) to set priorities, unblock delivery, coach performance, and build strong operational habits. - Operations leadership on resourcing, staffing models, and long term capacity planning. - Researchers, procurement partners, and Engagement Managers to translate research and business goals into executable project plans. - Product and Engineering on internal tools, data pipelines, and systems that make SPLs and Fellows significantly more effective. WHAT YOU WILL BRING Experience: - 5+ years in operationally intensive roles such as marketplace operations, data operations, strategy and operations. - 2+ years managing high performing teams in fast paced, execution focused environments. - Prior experience in investment banking, private equity or management consulting strongly preferred. - Experience leading complex, multi stakeholder projects from definition through delivery, ideally with AI, data, or technical workflows. - Background in AI data operations, ML ops, or technical services is a strong plus. This role works well for people who: - Want to own a critical piece of the Handshake AI delivery engine and be directly accountable for team performance and outcomes - Enjoy leading and coaching high performing operators, setting a clear bar, and giving direct feedback - Can move between high level systems thinking (process design, staffing, metrics) and detailed execution reviews with SPLs - Are comfortable in high intensity environments where priorities shift quickly and customer or lab needs can change week to week It is not a good fit if you want narrow individual contributor scope, highly predictable days, or heavy top down structure. There will be sustained periods of high intensity, including early, late, and weekend work when programs or launches are at critical inflection points. You will often be the person responsible for getting projects back on track. People in this role often come from: - Operations or strategy and operations leadership roles at early stage or high growth startups - Marketplace, data, or technical services companies where they managed teams and owned delivery metrics - Management consulting or investment banking backgrounds that moved into hands on operational leadership - Team lead or manager roles in AI data operations or other scaled, process heavy environments Prior experience in AI is helpful but not required; strong operational leadership and systems thinking matter more. BENEFITS & 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 💻 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 http://joinhandshake.com/careers.