Growth Operations Lead

Handshake • Full-time • Remote (Hybrid in San Francisco, California, United States) • $145,000 - $160,000 / year • 5d ago

Fast Facts

Join Handshake as a Growth Operations Lead to drive strategic growth initiatives for AI-driven products, affecting millions of students and employers.

Responsibilities: Lead growth strategy execution, optimize the growth funnel, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance product adoption.

Skills: Experience in growth operations, strong data analysis skills (SQL or Python), problem-solving abilities, and familiarity with BI tools.

Qualifications: 3+ years in growth or operations, with a leadership background, preferably in tech environments such as marketplaces or logistics.

Location: Fully remote work option with an office based in San Francisco, California, USA.

Compensation: $145000 - $160000 / Annually

About Handshake

Handshake is building the career network for the AI economy—a next-generation platform where opportunity, talent, and intelligence converge. Today, we connect 20M+ students and early-career professionals with 750K+ employers across more than 1,500 universities, creating one of the largest and most diverse talent ecosystems in the world.

Our platform brings every part of the career journey together: the network generates high-quality recruiting matches, which in turn produce rich, real-world career data. That data then powers AI systems that make the experience even smarter and more personalized. Each component strengthens the others, creating a continuous cycle of compounding value for students, employers, and institutions.

The Role

As Handshake AI rapidly expands in the generative AI space, we’re looking for a Growth Operations Lead to architect and scale strategic growth initiatives that drive revenue, product adoption, and long-term market leadership. This role is both hands-on and highly strategic - you’ll lead cross-functional efforts to define and execute our growth roadmap. Your work will directly shape how students, employers, and institutions experience our next generation of AI-driven products.

Own and lead critical growth initiatives from strategy through execution, collaborating deeply with teams across Product, Engineering, Operations, and Go-to-Market.
Design and implement scalable growth systems, pipelines, and processes tailored to evolving customer needs and market demands.
Oversee and optimize the entire growth funnel - from acquisition to activation - for key generative AI products and experiments.
Synthesize insights across product usage, market dynamics, and operational performance to surface opportunities and drive prioritization.
Partner closely with Handshake AI’s leadership to shape strategic direction, define success metrics, and drive accountability across growth workstreams.
Solve ambiguous, high-priority challenges with a structured, data-driven approach - helping define what “great” looks like as we scale new products and markets.

You Have

3-4+ years of experience in growth, product, or operations.
1+ year of experience leading a team.
A background in strategy- and operations-heavy environments such as marketplaces, logistics, or on-demand services.
Experience in Business Operations, Strategy, or Growth teams at a tech company.
Strong technical acumen, including the ability to perform data analysis using SQL or Python.
Educational or professional background in Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, or related fields, with a strong grasp of turning data into actionable insights.
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with a data-first approach to testing and decision-making.
Familiarity with BI tools and methodologies (e.g., dashboards, KPI tracking, data visualization) to support operational and strategic decisions.
An entrepreneurial mindset—comfortable with ambiguity, fast execution, and building from zero to one.

We Offer

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 .

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