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 Strategic Project Associate (SPA), you will be a key driver in making sure Handshake AI delivers flawlessly for our customers. This role blends execution, analysis, and problem-solving with a unique opportunity to contribute to projects that directly impact the training of state-of-the-art AI models.

You will work hand-in-hand with Strategic Project Leads, Delivery Leads, and Operations leadership gaining a front-row seat to how the human data layer of AI is being built. This is a launchpad role with significant growth potential, designed to prepare you for higher-impact leadership roles in project delivery and client strategy.

We work 5 days in-office.

Key Responsibilities

Run the Core Engine: Drive the day-to-day execution of projects from setting up operational workflows to ensuring deadlines are met and deliverables exceed client expectations.
Build and Maintain Expert Networks: Support onboarding of hundreds of domain experts across diverse industries, keeping pipelines healthy and engagement high.
Own Project Visibility: Track KPIs, maintain dashboards, and provide regular updates to leadership, ensuring stakeholders always have a clear view of project health.
Partner with Senior Leaders: Work closely with Strategic Project Leads to translate client requirements into action plans and unblock execution bottlenecks.
Elevate Quality & Efficiency: Propose and implement process improvements and automations that scale our ability to deliver at speed and quality.
Support Client Impact: Help prepare updates and progress reports that showcase results to clients and highlight opportunities for expansion and upsell.

Desired Capabilities

Bachelor’s degree in STEM, business or a related field.
Early-career experience in operations, consulting, research, or project management preferred (internships count).
Analytical mindset with comfort using spreadsheets (Excel/Google Sheets) and project management tools (Notion, Asana, Jira, etc.).
Clear communicator with excellent written and verbal English.
Highly organized, detail-oriented, and driven to deliver outcomes rather than just complete tasks.

You’ll Thrive Here If You:

Are motivated by solving operational problems that have direct, measurable impact.
Want to be part of a company shaping the future of AI through human data.
Can navigate ambiguity, act with urgency, and keep multiple workstreams moving in parallel.
Are ambitious and looking for a stepping stone into leadership roles in operations or client strategy

Perks