For cash compensation, we set standard ranges for all U.S.-based roles based on function, level, and geographic location, benchmarked against similar stage growth companies. In order to be compliant with local legislation, as well as to provide greater transparency to candidates, we share salary ranges on all job postings regardless of desired hiring location. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors, including geographic location as well as candidate experience and expertise, and may vary from the amounts listed above.

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

We’re hiring a Staff Software Engineer to lead the architecture and evolution of our Reinforcement Learning Environments (RLE) platform—the systems that define how frontier AI models learn real-world work.

This is a high-impact, technical leadership role responsible for system design, cross-team alignment, and setting the long-term technical direction of RLE.

Location: San Francisco, CA (in-office, 5 days/week)

What You’ll Do

• Define and drive architecture for scalable, extensible RLE systems and data pipelines

• Lead development of platform capabilities enabling rapid domain creation

• Partner with Research, Product, and Ops to shape strategy and execution

• Set standards for reliability, observability, performance, and data quality

• Mentor engineers and elevate engineering excellence across the team

• Identify and solve systemic bottlenecks in scaling environments and data generation

What We’re Looking For

• 8+ years of experience in distributed systems, backend infrastructure, or ML platforms

• Deep expertise in system design, data modeling, and scalable architectures

• Strong proficiency with TypeScript, backend systems, and modern web stacks

• Proven experience operating high-scale production systems in cloud environments

• Track record of technical leadership and cross-functional influence

Nice to Have

• Experience with RL infrastructure, simulation systems, or evaluation frameworks

• Background supporting applied AI/ML research teams

• Experience building platform-level abstractions used across multiple teams

What Success Looks Like

• RLE becomes a foundational, trusted platform across teams and use cases

• New domains scale rapidly with minimal engineering overhead

• Systems demonstrate step-function improvements in model quality and reliability

• Engineering velocity and system robustness increase across the organization

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

💻 Office: Commuting support, free lunch, and gym in our SF office

🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days

🤝 Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses

Compensation Range: $265.5K - $295K