Senior Engineering Manager, Growth Engineering

Handshake•San Francisco, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

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 build leadership capacity (including an EM layer) as the team scales. Location: San Francisco, CA. This is an in-office role, 5 days/week (no remote/hybrid).

Requirements

Engineering leader + builder: 3+ 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 an EM 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

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

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 (post-acquisition) — activation, engagement, and retention 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, Marketing, and the Acquisition team 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