Associate Software Engineer

Who you are

• 0-2 years of software engineering experience, with some experience owning features or small projects from implementation through production support
• Good communication skills and comfort working with non-engineering stakeholders
• Exposure to building internal tools, workflow systems, or automation (through internships, previous roles, or side projects) is a plus
• Growing engineering judgment: able to write clean, scalable code with guidance, and eager to learn how to make good abstraction and design tradeoffs
• Curiosity and adaptability in ambiguous environments, with a track record of shipping incremental improvements
• Exposure to workflow/backlog systems, intake processes, or operational analytics (instrumentation, dashboards, QA)
• Interest in operating in a fast-paced, embedded-engineering environment
• Coursework, projects, or prior experience touching knowledge-work operations tooling (e.g., case management, review/approval flows, data quality tooling)

What the job involves

• As a Software Engineer on Operating Tooling, you'll build internal products and automation that help Handshake's operators run the business at high quality and speed
• This team functions like an embedded/consulting engineering group: you'll partner directly with operators, learn their workflows, and help ship new operational capabilities
• This role is collaborative and communication-heavy. Success requires solid technical fundamentals plus good EQ—someone who can take clearly-scoped operational needs and turn them into reliable, well-built systems, iterating based on feedback from operators and senior engineers
• Work with operators (with support from senior engineers) to understand processes and pain points, and help translate them into technical requirements
• Build internal tools, automations, and workflows that improve operational throughput, accuracy, and visibility
• Own well-scoped projects or features end-to-end: implementation, testing, rollout, and iteration, with guidance on discovery and technical design
• Write maintainable, well-tested code and follow established engineering practices for the internal-tools environment
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners (operators, engineering, product) to gather feedback and drive adoption of the tools you build
• Seek feedback proactively and grow your technical judgment through code review and pairing with more senior engineers

Benefits

• Health Insurance: Comprehensive medical , dental, and vision coverage
• Fertility and family forming: Through a partnership, Handshake offers comprehensive family benefits, including infertility treatments and a $15K stipend, to its employees.
• LGTBQ+ coverage: All medical plans cover transgender services.
• Mental health: Discounts on a variety of wellness apps and an Employee Assistance Program with access to five free counseling sessions.
• Tax savings: Tax-advantaged benefits to save money on healthcare, dependent care, and other expenses.
• Life & disability insurance: Essential benefits and automatic coverage with basic life insurance, plus short-term and long-term disability coverage.
• 401k match: Dollar-for-dollar match up to 1% of pay, with a max of $1,200 per year.
• Equity: Our equity program includes grants at hire, refresher grants after two years of tenure, and grants alongside promotions.
• Financial management: Handshake partners to provide free professional financial planning services.
• Learning & development: Employees are provided with an annual stipend to use towards professional development, career development workshops, manager trainings, and 1-on-1 coaching through external partnerships
• Community leader support: Employee Resource Group leaders are compensated with a quarterly bonus for the high-impact work the role requires
• Parental leave: Leaves of 16 weeks for birth-giving parents and 10 weeks for non-birth-giving parents; the policy applies to adoptions as well. Handshake also partners to provide one-on-one coaching on preparing for leave and coming back from leave
• Flexible time off: No accrued time off or waiting period to take vacation. Two paid flexible holiday days off to observe holidays that closely align with religious, cultural, and personal needs
• Sabbatical: Paid six-week sabbatical to recharge and reset beginning at six years of continuous, full-time employment, and every four years thereafter
• Volunteer time off: Two days off for social and civil activism, volunteer work, and/or any related activities, including attending and participating in protests