Handshake AI Support Specialist, Contract

About Handshake AI

Handshake is building the career network for the AI economy. Our three-sided marketplace connects 18 million students and alumni, 1,500+ academic institutions across the U.S. and Europe, and 1 million employers to power how the next generation explores careers, builds skills, and gets hired.

Handshake AI is a human data labeling business that leverages the scale of the largest early career network. We work directly with the world’s leading AI research labs to build a new generation of human data products. From PhDs in physics to undergrads fluent in LLMs, Handshake AI is the trusted partner for domain-specific data and evaluation at scale.

This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing team shaping the future of AI through better data, better tools, and better systems—for experts, by experts.

Now’s a great time to join Handshake. Here’s why:

• Leading the AI Career Revolution: Be part of the team redefining work in the AI economy for millions worldwide.

• Proven Market Demand: Deep employer partnerships across Fortune 500s and the world’s leading AI research labs.

• World-Class Team: Leadership from Scale AI, Meta, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir, just to name a few.

• Capitalized & Scaling: $3.5B valuation from top investors including Kleiner Perkins, True Ventures, Notable Capital, and more.

About the Role

Handshake is expanding into AI research and development, building a world-class network of expert Fellows - PhDs, researchers, and subject matter specialists - who contribute to cutting-edge AI through specialized research, model evaluation, and domain-specific applications. Handshake is looking to bring on a Handshake AI Support Specialist, Contractor to provide payments, contracts, and general support to our Handshake MOVE Fellows. Reporting to the Senior Manager of Handshake AI Support, this role is a 6 month contract with the possibility of contract extension or conversion to a permanent role upon evaluation of fit for the role and company needs. If you are resourceful and attuned to detail, love digging into a complex and technical product, building strong relationships with customers and team members, and solving a wide variety of questions, bugs, and workflow needs - this is the role for you!

This is not a typical support job where you’ll exclusively work on tickets; it’s an opportunity to make Handshake AI feel like the premier destination for experts looking to challenge the boundaries of AI. You’ll have opportunities to interact with both Handshake leadership and our expert network directly.

You will work closely with our Handshake AI Ops, Finance, Product, Engineering, Projects and Fellow Experience (FEXP) teams to provide efficient and effective support, and contribute to an overall seamless experience for Fellows. You will primarily focus on handling payment questions, disputes, and managing contracts to ensure our Fellows have a smooth experience. You will also assist with general Handshake AI support, help unblock our users, share trends and learnings with the Handshake AI Team, and continue to improve the customer experience and our team operations. As an advocate for our Fellows, you’ll improve the Handshake AI experience and make an impact on our mission to build the infrastructure for the next era of human-AI collaboration.

Exceptional team members may have the ability to grow their career into new roles across the Handshake AI Ops team.

• Contribute 40 hours per week during our business hours, Monday through Friday, and occasional overtime as needed. Provide amazing email, zoom, and/or phone support to Handshake MOVE Fellows via email, internal ticketing systems, and other channels. Your day-to-day will consist of:

  • 80%: resolving questions and disputes, removing or updating contracts reporting bugs, sharing feedback, and other general inquiries. You’ll typically handle up to 75-100 tickets per day.

  • 10% on priority initiatives or improving business process

  • 5%: attending team meetings (1-3 per week)

  • 5%: completing administrative tasks (emails, checking daily announcements, training, etc.)

• Tickets will involve highly technical troubleshooting and workflows, building and troubleshooting custom reports using Big Query, SQL, Google Sheets, and/or Looker, and making sure to provide tailored, personal responses while building relationships

• Use app environments, troubleshooting tools, internal and external documentation, and team communication channels, to find the quality answer for a wide range of users

• Maintain a standard level of excellence in regards to response times, resolution times, equal share of queue, and the quality of the customer support experience

• Be both a support specialist and an experienced consultant for Fellows

• Utilize internal tools to manage issues between Operations, Finance, Product, Engineering, Project, and Support teams

• Analyze common issues that Fellows have and coordinate with our Product and Ops teams to ideate and implement solutions

Desired Capabilities

• 1 - 3 years of support, Sales Development Representative or similar experience

• BI tools: Experience with or strong aptitude to quickly learn Big Query, SQL, Google Sheets advanced formulas and analysis, and Looker to pull payment and project data and compare with our tracking systems

• Self-Starter: Excited to approach new challenges and have a high bar for personal excellence

• Technical Aptitude: Ability to learn technical tools and concepts quickly

• Resilience: Comfort with change and ambiguity. We’re a growing startup and always refining processes, tools, etc!

• Teamwork: Connects with teammates and actively builds a sense of community on the Handshake AI and Support teams. Collaborates with manager and colleagues and team on daily or weekly guidance on ticket workflows and prioritization.

• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills with a clear ability to communicate complex topics with simple language.

• Results oriented and ownership: Ability to maintain or exceed ticket and quality goals. High level of self accountability and integrity for processes and metrics.

• Passion for the problem: Desire to help give people the chance to build the career they want, no matter where they're from or what school they attend

• EQ: A strong sense of empathy with users of our products and cross functional partners

• Critical Thinking: High attention to detail and ability to troubleshoot with limited information and a clear plan of action.

• Expertise and Curiosity: Retains knowledge, shows ability to partially solve issues independently, and asks questions to increase personal knowledge. Isn’t afraid to do independent research on third party tools and systems to find answers.

• Growth Mindset: Positive, eager to learn, utilizes resources, takes and gives feedback, connects with support team and key cross team stakeholders.

• Diversity and Inclusion: Eagerness to contribute to and help build a diverse and inclusive team and exhibit these values internally and externally with customers or users.

• Coverage: Can provide a regular schedule to provide consistent assistance to users. Based in the U.S. and is not a current student.

Extra Credit

• Big Query, SQL, Google Sheets/Excel, Deel, and/or Hubstaff experience

• ZenDesk experience

• AI/LLM usage and training Experience

• Programming, IT, data analysis or computer science courses, major or certifications

• FinTech customer service experience

• Previous experience working in an Enterprise SaaS Customer Support team at a fast-paced startup or hypergrowth tech company, or customer focused position involving technical knowledge of a company's products and services

• Relevant experience in cross - functional communication or close partnerships with various teams (Success, Sales, Product etc)

  
  Location & Work Expectations

• Must be based in the US

• No visa sponsorship available

• Cannot be based in following states: AK, AL, AR, HI, IA, KS, KY, LA, MS, ND, RI, SC, WY

Compensation

• $30 per hour in SF, $25 per hour for Remote $25.00 – $30.00 per hour

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.