Strategic Account Executive at Handshake (United States)
Handshake· United States· $275k–$300k·
Role details
Equity · 401(K) Match · Competitive Compensation · Financial Coaching · Paid Parental Leave · Fertility Benefits · Parental Coaching · Medical Insurance
Handshake at a glance
Handshake is the career network for the AI economy, pairing a three-sided student-employer-school job marketplace with a fast-growing AI training-data business that supplies frontier labs.
Handshake runs a three-sided marketplace connecting job seekers, employers, and college career centers, with matching, profiles, and skill-building. In 2025 it launched Handshake AI, which turns its network of educated members into a contractor workforce that produces training data and evaluations for frontier AI labs.
$434M raised · latest: Series F · $200M · Jan 2022 · $3.5B valuation · backed by Coatue Management, Valiant Peregrine Fund, Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital
Summary
Join Handshake's Strategic New Business team to acquire net new Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 employers. This pure hunter role involves owning the full sales cycle, from account planning to closing complex six-figure partnerships with senior HR and business leaders.
Job description
About Handshake
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. Today, we power 25 million job seekers, 1 million+ employers, and 1,600 educational institutions. In 2025, we started Handshake AI and built the fastest-growing AI data business in history. We work directly with frontier AI lab researchers to create evaluations, publish benchmarks, and push the boundary of data. We’ve grown from $0 to ~$1B run rate and pay ~$60M to over 30K individuals every month. 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
- Partner hand-in-hand with world-class AI labs, Fortune 500 partners and the world’s top educational institutions
- Work together with engineers, scientists, operators, and more from Palantir, Meta, Scale AI, and former YC founders
- Build a massive, fast-growing business with billions in revenue
The Role
We’re hiring a Strategic Account Executive to join our Strategic New Business team, focused on landing net new Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 employers that do not yet partner with Handshake. This is a pure hunter role, built for a seller who thrives in high-visibility deal cycles, creates pipeline through proactive outreach, and can close complex six-figure partnerships with senior HR and business leaders. You will inherit a defined book named accounts and own the full sales cycle end to end, from account planning and first meetings through executive alignment, negotiation, and close. You will operate with high autonomy and minimal support, and you will be expected to travel, host customers, and win in the room.
You Have Must-Haves:
- 4+ years of SaaS closing experience, including 2+ years selling into enterprise or strategic customers
- Proven track record of net new logo acquisition and consistent quota attainment (President’s Club strongly preferred)
- Experience closing complex six-figure deals with multiple stakeholders and longer sales cycles
- Strong outbound and account planning skills, with comfort owning a defined book and building pipeline proactively
- Ability to lead executive-level conversations, position value, and run a disciplined sales process end to end
- High ownership and scrappiness, with comfort creating your own materials and running your own demos without heavy support
- Strong forecasting hygiene and deal management discipline across monthly and quarterly rhythms
- Willingness to travel regularly and engage in in-person selling, customer events, and relationship-building
Bonus Points:
- Experience selling HR tech, recruiting software, or workforce solutions into Fortune 500 employers
- Background as an enterprise AE with 2 to 5 years tenure looking to step up into strategic new business
- Existing relationships with senior HR, TA, or early talent leaders at large employers
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.
Why work at Handshake
- Culture: Values include “Students first,” “Leave nothing to chance,” “Own the outcome,” “Invent and reinvent,” and “Olympic pace.” Emphasis on ownership, urgency, and constant evolution.
- Remote/Hybrid policy: Many roles are based in San Francisco or New York, but some positions (e.g., Trust & Safety Specialist, Support Specialist) are remote in the US. Recent openings show both office and remote options.
- Benefits: Health & wellness support, financial support, time off, modern offices with meals, snacks, and social activities. Strong focus on career growth and learning.
- Career growth: Rapid headcount growth suggests ample internal mobility; roles range from engineering (ML, AI, data) to customer success, partnerships, and product management.