Staff Forward Deployed Engineer

About the Company

Handshake was founded on a simple belief that everyone deserves a path to a great career, regardless of where they went to school or who they know. Handshake AI is building the fastest-growing AI data business in history, working directly with frontier AI lab researchers to create evaluations and push the boundaries of data.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical strategy and architectural vision for forward-deployed engineering
• Serve as the senior technical point of contact for complex and high-value customer engagements
• Drive cross-functional alignment between engineering, product, and customer-facing teams
• Architect and deliver production-grade systems for high-ambiguity customer challenges
• Establish engineering best practices, design patterns, and reusable frameworks
• Mentor and develop senior and mid-level engineers
• Identify and address systemic gaps in tooling, infrastructure, or process

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Significant experience in customer-facing or forward-deployed roles
• Expert-level proficiency with ReactJS and TypeScript
• Strong command of relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL), data modeling, and system design
• Extensive experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP) and CI/CD pipelines
• Proven ability to lead high-stakes technical initiatives from zero-to-one
• Exceptional communication and influence skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience defining technical strategy for LLM-powered or AI-native products
• Background in building and scaling forward-deployed or solutions engineering functions
• History of driving platform/infrastructure decisions to improve developer velocity
• Experience partnering with C-level or VP-level stakeholders