Director of Communications, Careers

About Handshake

Handshake was founded on a simple belief: everyone deserves a path to a great career regardless of where they went to school or who they know. Today Handshake is the career network for the AI economy connecting 30 million job seekers more than a million employers and 1600 educational institutions. Handshake AI puts the expertise of that network to work with leading AI labs and enterprises and Handshakes learning products help people build the skills the AI economy demands.

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 worlds 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

About the Role

Were looking for a communications lead to own the story of our Careers business: the network 30 million students graduates and professionals start on the 1600 institutions and million employers who rely on it and the learning products were building on top of it.

Youll report to the Chief Communications Officer and work directly with the President and COO who runs Careers and with our Chief Education and Workforce Officer our research and economics team and Careers product and marketing. Youll be the single owner of how Careers shows up in the press in our executives voices in our research and with the universities employers and policymakers who work with us.

• Own the Careers communications strategy integrated with the company-wide comms calendar and set the priorities each quarter tied to the business units growth goals and measure impact against clear KPIs

• Run media relations for Careers: build relationships with reporters covering careers workplace higher education workforce policy and AIs effect on jobs

• Serve as executive communications partner to the President and COO and the Chief Education and Workforce Officer

• Turn our research and data (Network Trends the Class of 2026 series monthly labor-market data) into stories with our in-house economist and research team

• Lead launch communications for Careers products and partnerships with product marketing

• Own communications to and about our university and employer partners with the education and employer teams

• Handle Careers inbound inquiries and issues with Legal and the CCO

• Support the Careers story in international markets as the business grows

This is a senior individual-contributor role to start. It may grow into a people-manager role as the function scales.

Desired Capabilities

• 812 years in communications with substantial media relations and executive communications experience; consumer marketplace education workforce or HR-technology background is a plus

• Working relationships with reporters on the careers workplace higher-education and future-of-work beats and a record of tier-one placements

• Exceptional writer and editor who can write in an executives voice across formats from a short LinkedIn post to a 1200-word op-ed to an all-hands script

• Comfortable with data

• Judgment under pressure

• Builds systems not just stories

• AI-native working style using AI to research draft and measure while owning every word that leaves the building

• Bonus: higher-education or workforce-policy background

Perks

Handshake delivers benefits that help you feel supportedand 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 wellness stipend

Growth: 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 Experience:

Director