Senior Engineering Manager

Who you are

• Engineering leader + builder: 4+ years managing engineering teams, 5+ years of hands-on engineering experience
• Growth or platform background: Experience owning systems that drive user acquisition, activation, or retention — or platform infrastructure that powers growth at scale
• Strong people leadership: Track record of developing senior engineers; experience managing managers or equivalent scope is a strong plus
• Execution in ambiguity: Able to align cross-functionally, build clarity from ambiguity, and deliver iteratively in fast-moving environments
• Balanced product + systems mindset: Can translate business and growth goals into technical roadmaps, ship with urgency, and measure outcomes rigorously
• Experience building experimentation platforms, A/B testing infrastructure, or personalization systems
• Background in lifecycle marketing infrastructure (notifications, email, push, in-app messaging)
• Familiarity with growth analytics, funnel instrumentation, or event tracking at scale
• Experience in two-sided marketplace or consumer/prosumer products What the job involves
• The Senior Engineering Manager of Growth Engineering at Handshake owns one of the most strategically important growth levers and platforms in the company — the systems that power how we acquire, activate, and retain users across the entire Handshake ecosystem
• This isn't a single-product role. You'll lead a platform that cuts across every surface of Handshake, serving as a foundational lever for company growth. You'll partner closely with Product, Data, and Marketing to define what the growth loop looks like at scale — and then build the infrastructure and product capabilities to make it real. You'll lead a growing team of engineers and are expected to up level and build leadership capacity as the team scales
• Lead and grow a high-performing Growth Engineering team — hire, develop, and retain strong engineers; build the leadership layer needed to scale
• Own the full growth funnel — acquisition, activation, retention, and notification systems that move the needle on Handshake's core growth metrics
• Build a scalable, extensible growth platform — modular infrastructure that enables rapid experimentation, personalization, and lifecycle targeting across the product
• Drive architecture and technical strategy — design systems for reliability, performance, and speed-to-ship, balancing platform investments with high-impact product bets
• Partner cross-functionally — work shoulder-to-shoulder with Product, Data Science, and Marketing to align on growth strategy and execution
• Raise the engineering bar — champion strong fundamentals: observability, experimentation rigor, data integrity, and engineering quality at scale
• Operate with ownership and velocity — set the standard for a team culture that moves fast, takes accountability, and delivers in ambiguous, high-stakes environments 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 r