AI Research Engineer, Handshake AI

Your impact

Handshake is building the future of human data for AI.

We partner directly with top AI labs to power large language model (LLM) training and evaluation with high-quality, expert-generated data. As AI models become more sophisticated, the demand for specialized human input continues to grow—and Handshake is uniquely positioned to meet it. We power career platforms at 92% of the top U.S. universities, giving us direct access to verified expert talent across a wide range of domains.

Our AI team is rapidly building a new generation of human data products—from expert annotation platforms to AI interviewers and seamless payout infrastructure—all designed to accelerate research and improve model performance.

We’ve assembled a world-class team from YC, Notion, Scale, Coinbase, Palantir, and more, and we’re working directly with many of the world’s leading AI research labs. This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing team shaping the future of AI through better data, better tools, and better systems—for experts, by experts.

We're looking for a Research Engineer to join our Handshake AI Research team, where you'll help shape what the next generation of AI models can achieve. This is a hands-on, high-impact role focused on post-training methodologies, specialized domain data verification, and creating cutting-edge LLM benchmarks that measure real-world impact.

As a Research Engineer, you'll bring deep technical skill, curiosity, and rigor to every stage of the research-to-deployment pipeline—whether it's designing robust distributed infrastructure for massive experiments, writing high-performance ML code, or developing benchmarks and evaluations that define the future of AI capabilities.

Location: San Francisco, CA

Your role

• Design and implement post-training systems and methodologies in close partnership with research scientists and domain experts

• Build and maintain infrastructure that supports large-scale model training, specialized data processing, and benchmark evaluation

• Develop robust frameworks for verifying the quality and integrity of highly specialized domain datasets

• Create next-generation LLM benchmarks that push the boundaries of model evaluation and capabilities assessment

• Optimize performance across software and hardware layers to accelerate post-training experimentation and deployment

• Collaborate across disciplines to ensure rigorous validation of model improvements and benchmark reliability

Your experience

• Strong Python programming skills with attention to clean, efficient, and scalable code

• Experience building and operating large-scale systems for model post-training, specialized data processing, or benchmark evaluation

• Deep familiarity with PyTorch and modern post-training techniques (RLHF, constitutional AI, etc.)

• A background in applied machine learning, model evaluation, or large-scale data quality assessment

• Experience with benchmark design, evaluation methodologies, and performance measurement frameworks

• Clear communication skills and a collaborative mindset for cross-functional research teams

Nice to Have

• Experience optimizing deep learning models for performance (e.g., memory usage, training speed)

• Interest in the societal and ethical impacts of AI technologies

• Contributions to open-source ML infrastructure or tools

Why Join Us

• This is a rare opportunity to help define how the world’s top labs build, test, and evaluate cutting-edge AI systems. You’ll be working with a uniquely high-talent team, tapping into a network of 18 million students and 500K+ PhDs, and shaping foundational infrastructure at a critical moment in the field. If you're excited to build from first principles—and want your work to directly accelerate frontier AI—we'd love to talk.

What we offer

At Handshake, we'll give you the tools to feel healthy, happy and secure.

Benefits below apply to US employees in full-time positions.

• 💰 Equity and ownership in a fast-growing company.

• 🍼 16 Weeks of paid parental leave for birth giving parents & 10 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birth giving parents.

• 💝 Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision policies including LGTBQ+ Coverage. We also provide resources for Mental Health Assistance, Employee Assistance Programs and counseling support.

• 📚 Generous learning & development opportunities and an annual $2,000 stipend for you to grow your skills and career.

• 💰 Financial coaching through Origin to help you through your financial journey.

• 🛜 Monthly internet stipend and a brand new MacBook to allow you to do your best work.

• 🚃 Monthly commuter stipend for you to expense your travel to the office (for office-based employees).

• 🥗 Free lunch provided 5x a week in office.

• 🏋️ Free gym access in San Francisco office building.

• 🤝 Referral bonus to reward you when you bring great talent to Handshake.

• 🧗🏼Team outings throughout the year to stay connected to each other.

• 🏦 401k Match: Handshake offers a dollar-for-dollar match on 1% of deferred salary, up to a maximum of $1,200 per year.

• 🏝 All full-time US-based Handshakers are eligible for our flexible time off policy to get out and see the world. In addition, we offer 13 standardized holidays, and 2 additional days of flexible holiday time off. Lastly, we have a Winter #ShakeBreak, a one-week period of Collective Time Off.

• 💻 Handshake offers $500 home office stipend for you to spend during your first 3 months to create a productive and comfortable workspace at home.

• 🍼 Family support: Parental leave coaching and support provided by Parentaly. We partner with Maven Clinic to provide a lifetime coverage up to $15K for expenses related to fertility and family forming!

• 💰 Lifestyle Savings Account: We offer you an annual stipend of $500 to use for purchases such as fitness classes, gym memberships, work-from-home setup, and more.

Looking for more? Explore our mission, values and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.

Handshake is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or reasonable accommodation, please let your recruiter know during initial communications.