Manager, Strategic Programs

About the role

Handshake AI is building a human data labeling business that supports top AI research labs. This role focuses on the Operator Enablement team, where you will design the systems and workflows that allow Strategic Project Leads to manage large-scale data projects. You will begin as an individual contributor with the expectation of building a team as the business scales.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Scale the central quality control program to handle thousands of auditing hours per week while maintaining strict reliability standards.
• Integrate LLM tools and prompt engineering into auditing workflows to improve operational efficiency by 10x.
• Collaborate with project leads to standardize quality processes across the entire Delivery organization.
• Design onboarding systems to ramp new Strategic Project Leads to full productivity.
• Create agentic operator tools to increase the efficiency of project management.
• Launch an Emerging Talent program to recruit and train recent graduates for the Strategic Projects team.

Requirements

• 4+ years of professional experience in technical program management, strategy and operations, or solutions engineering.
• A technical degree in STEM fields, including computer science, engineering, physical sciences, economics, or statistics and analytics.
• Ability to deploy AI tools within complex operational environments.
• Proven history of designing and scaling efficient, repeatable processes.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to resolve ambiguous challenges.
• Strong communication skills to align cross-functional stakeholders.
• Readiness to hire and manage a team as the scope of the program expands.

Nice to have

• Experience as a founder or early team member at a high-growth startup.
• Background in product, engineering, or operations.
• History of managing complex, cross-functional operational problems.
• Experience with quality management systems from sectors like healthcare, logistics, or manufacturing.
• Knowledge of structured process-improvement frameworks such as Six Sigma or Lean.

Skills & tools

• LLM tools and prompt engineering
• Operational process design
• Technical program management
• Cross-functional stakeholder management

Practical notes

Benefits for full-time US employees include equity, 401(k) match, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, and a wellness stipend. The package also covers paid parental leave, fertility benefits, parental coaching, learning stipends, and flexible PTO with 15 holidays and 2 flex days. The San Francisco office provides free lunch and gym access.