Program Operations Associate

Handshake • Full-time • Hybrid in San Francisco, California, United States • $87,000 - $110,000 / year • 1d ago

Fast Facts

Joining Handshake as a Program Operations Associate involves supporting the execution of Fellow programs to enhance Fellow experience and retention within a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include managing day-to-day program operations, onboarding logistics, maintaining documentation, ensuring Fellow communication and engagement, and addressing operational issues.

Skills: The role requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, clear communication, experience with operational tools, and data analysis skills including basic SQL.

Qualifications: Preferred candidates will have 2-3 years of experience in operations or program coordination and the ability to manage multiple workstreams in a rapidly changing environment.

Location: San Francisco, California, United States.

Compensation: $87000 - $110000 / Annually

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

The Role

The Program Operations Associate, Fellow Experience is an early-career role focused on keeping Fellow programs running smoothly and reliably across multiple customers.

This role supports Senior Program Leads and Delivery pods by handling day-to-day operational execution, Fellow communication, issue triage, and program coordination to drive fellow experience and retention. You will work across multiple programs at once, helping ensure Fellows have a clear, consistent experience and that operational issues are identified and resolved quickly.

This role is well-suited for someone who is highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with multiple stakeholders and priorities.

What You’ll Own

Program Operations & Coordination

Support the day-to-day operation of multiple Fellow programs across different customers.
Assist with onboarding logistics, launches, transitions, and ongoing program workflows.
Maintain trackers and internal documentation to ensure operational clarity and follow-through.

Fellow Experience & Retention Support

Help ensure a consistent, dependable Fellow experience across programs.
Monitor engagement signals and flag retention or performance risks to senior leads.
Draft and send clear, timely Fellow communications aligned with program standards and policies.

Issue Triage & Escalations

Triage incoming Fellow questions and issues, routing them to the correct owners.
Support escalation handling by gathering context and documenting issues clearly.

Process & Quality Support

Follow established playbooks and workflows to ensure consistency.
Identify recurring issues or gaps and surface improvement opportunities to the team.
Help keep program operations organized, predictable, and reliable.

You Have

2–3 years of experience in operations, program coordination, customer support, or a related role.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Clear written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to manage multiple workstreams and priorities at the same time.
Good judgment around when to escalate issues versus resolve independently.
A bias toward reliability, follow-through, and operational clarity.
Willingness to work in a fast-moving startup environment where processes are still evolving.
Experience with operational tools such as Zendesk, Notion, Airtable, or similar systems.
Ability to work with data to support operational decisions, including:
Writing basic SQL queries to pull, join, and filter data
Using dashboards or spreadsheets to track program health, engagement, and retention signals
Comfort interpreting metrics and trends to surface risks or issues to senior leads

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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