Handshake

Technology

SoftwareEngineerI,Annotations

$150–175k San Francisco, California, United States FULL TIME
Market Sentiment
HIGH DEMAND

Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Mid+ candidates.

The Brief

“Software Engineer I, Annotations at Handshake. Skills: Backend systems, Workflow systems, Platform infrastructure. Build backend systems. Maintain backend systems”

Industry & Context.

Technology
Problems you'll solve

Break down complex problems; Develop scalable solutions

What They're Looking For.

Must Have

1+ years of professional software engineering experience, Programming fundamentals, Experience building production software, Experience with backend development, Experience with distributed systems concepts, Familiarity with modern web technologies, Familiarity with APIs, Experience working with databases, Experience with data modeling, Ability to break down complex problems, Ability to develop scalable solutions, Communication skills, Collaborative mindset

Nice to Have

Experience with TypeScript, Experience building internal tools, Experience building workflow systems, Experience building platform infrastructure, Exposure to workflow orchestration, Exposure to pipeline systems, Exposure to task management platforms, Experience designing systems supporting multiple teams, Experience designing systems supporting multiple stakeholders, Familiarity with AI, Familiarity with annotation, Familiarity with human-in-the-loop workflows, Experience working in fast-moving startup environments

What You'll Do.

Build backend systems

Maintain backend systems

Develop tools for operators

Create scalable tasking systems

Create pipeline systems

Improve fellow tasking experiences

Design extensible platform capabilities

Collaborate with operators

Translate operational needs

Partner with engineers

Contribute to system architecture

Contribute to technical design reviews

Contribute to engineering best practices

How You'll Work.

Team & Collaboration

Cross-functional teams; Product managers; Product designers; Engineering teams

Communication Scope

Communication skills

Full 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 Handshake AI is building the infrastructure that powers how AI work gets delivered at scale. Every project our operators launch, every fellow who works on those projects, and every task that flows through our platform relies on systems built by the HAI Annotation team. As a Software Engineer I on this team, you'll build the core platform that enables operators to configure customer projects, manage complex tasking workflows, and ensure work moves reliably through our delivery pipelines. You'll work on foundational systems

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