Associate Software Engineer, RLE

**About Handshake** Handshake is the career network for the AI economy. 20 million knowledge workers, 1,600 educational institutions, 1 million employers (including 100% of the Fortune 50\), and every foundational AI lab trust Handshake to power career discovery, hiring, and upskilling, from freelance AI training gigs to first internships to full\-time careers and beyond. This unique value is leading to unparalleled growth; in 2025, we tripled our ARR at scale. **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 * Work hand\-in\-hand with world\-class AI labs, Fortune 500 partners and the world’s top educational institutions * Join a team with leadership from Scale AI, Meta, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir, among others * Build a massive, fast\-growing business with billions in revenue **About The Role** We’re hiring an **Associate Software Engineer** to help build our Reinforcement Learning Environments (RLE) platform—the systems where frontier AI models learn to complete real\-world work. This is a hands\-on, growth\-oriented role where you’ll contribute to building core systems, learn quickly from senior engineers, and gain exposure to cutting\-edge AI infrastructure. **Location:** San Francisco, CA (in\-office, 5 days/week) What You’ll Do * Contribute to building RLE environments and supporting infrastructure * Implement features across backend systems and frontend interfaces * Work with senior engineers to improve system reliability and performance * Help build modular workflow domains (e.g., engineering, finance, legal) * Support data pipelines that power model training and evaluation What We’re Looking For * 0–2 years of experience (internships or full\-time) in software engineering * Familiarity with backend development and APIs * Working knowledge of ReactJS and TypeScript * Understanding of databases (e.g., PostgreSQL) and basic system design * Eagerness to learn and operate in fast\-paced environments Nice to Have * Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS, GCP) * Experience with data pipelines or ML\-adjacent systems * Interest in AI/ML or simulation systems What Success Looks Like * Ships reliable features that improve RLE functionality * Grows into owning small components independently * Contributes to faster iteration and better developer velocity **Perks** 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 coachin 💝 Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, $500 wellness stipend 📚 Growth: $2,000 learning stipend, ongoing development 💻 Office: Commuting support, free lunch, and gym in our SF office 🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays \+ 2 flex days 🤝 Connection: Team outings \& referral bonuses Compensation Range: $135K \- $150K