Fellow Experience Manager

Handshake•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

Handshake AI is scaling rapidly to support hundreds of thousands of Fellows working across high-volume, fast-evolving AI projects and frontier lab customers. The Fellow Experience (FEXP) team is the frontline engine that ensures Fellows receive timely, accurate, and high-quality support. We are seeking a Fellow Experience Manager to lead a US-based team of Fellow Experience Specialists (support agents) responsible for reactive ticket support. This role owns team performance, quality, and health within a high-volume, SLA-driven environment. FEXP operates across three geographies — the United States, India, and Guatemala — and requires tight coordination across time zones to ensure continuous coverage and consistent standards. This manager will play a critical role in maintaining operational stability, driving accountability, and leading through ambiguity as product changes and volume spikes occur. This is a hands-on people leadership role in a fast-paced AI environment. You will ensure your team consistently meets SLAs, quality standards, and CSAT targets while maintaining morale and resilience during rapid change.

Requirements

5+ years in high-volume customer support startup environments
3+ years managing frontline support agents (FTE and/or contractors)
Experience in fast-scaling, rapidly changing product environments (AI or technical experience preferred)
Calm and decisive in high-volume, high-pressure environments
Demonstrated ownership of SLAs, CSAT, and QA performance
Deep working knowledge of support tooling (Zendesk or similar)
Exceptional EQ with a strong sense of empathy with both team members and Fellows
Strong judgment under ambiguity
Bias toward action and operational clarity

Responsibilities

Own your team’s delivery against SLAs, quality standards, and CSAT targets
Ensure tickets are handled accurately, efficiently, and with strong Fellow communication
Monitor productivity, quality scores, backlog, and coverage daily
Proactively adjust staffing and coverage during volume spikes
Maintain operational stability during incidents or product changes
Coach Fellow Experience Specialists on performance fundamentals, documentation hygiene, and escalation judgment
Run consistent 1:1s, performance reviews, and structured feedback cycles
Identifies team health issues early and intervenes proactively
Manage underperformance, including structured improvement plans
Maintain morale and psychological safety within a high-intensity environment
Handle complex or high-risk Fellow escalations independently
Provide structured updates during operational disruptions
Stabilize team performance during periods of chaos or unclear product direction
Ensure escalation paths are clear and followed
Ensure SOPs, macros, and internal documentation are updated rapidly as product changes occur
Identify documentation gaps and close them quickly
Drive team adoption of new workflows within hours or days — not weeks
Reinforce documentation discipline as a core operating principle
Coordinate closely with other FEXP managers in the US, India, and Guatemala to ensure global coverage continuity
Partner with other teams on training updates and workflow adjustments
Surface recurring Fellow pain points and product inconsistencies
Provide structured, actionable insights (not just updates) to stakeholders