Role Overview
The Staff Product Designer, Student Experience position at Handshake is a full-time remote role based out of San Francisco, California. This role suits an experienced design professional ready to shape how millions of students navigate career transitions and discover jobs using advanced AI tools.
Key Responsibilities
Collaborate closely with product management, engineering, applied AI, data science, and content teams to define strategy and deliver trustworthy student experiences.
Take full ownership of the design lifecycle from early concepts to post-launch iterations, including user flows, interaction patterns, prototypes, and high-fidelity mockups.
Design across the complete student career journey encompassing job matching, application support, interview preparation, and career pathing, including agentic AI interactions.
Address complex design challenges at the frontier of agentic user experience, establishing appropriate trust, transparency, control, and handoffs between automation and human judgment.
Conduct rapid iteration through wireframes and experiments to validate interaction models and optimize career outcomes.
Introduce and refine new product capabilities so students easily understand and trust automated features.
Maintain high standards for visual design, interaction design, and systems thinking while prioritizing student wellbeing and tangible results.
Requirements
Bring seven or more years of product design experience, ideally crafting consumer-facing solutions at scale.
Demonstrate a proven history of managing complex, end-to-end product experiences rather than isolated features.
Communicate design decisions, user insights, and strategic tradeoffs clearly to leadership and cross-functional partners.
Possess robust expertise in visual and interaction design to deliver high-quality products that generate measurable impact.
Understand how to design for trust, transparency, and user control so individuals feel confident acting on system recommendations.
Utilize generative AI tools comfortably during the design process to speed up ideation, prototyping, and iteration.
Apply both qualitative and quantitative data insights to guide design decisions and evaluate experiments.
Demonstrate a collaborative approach, a gritty and hands-on work ethic, and a deep motivation for the company mission.
Nice to Have
Background in designing AI-powered or agentic products that take action or automate tasks on behalf of a user.
Experience designing agent-based systems, personal assistants, copilots, or autonomous task agents.
Familiarity with higher education, career services, recruiting, or early-career talent pipelines.
Previous work in high-stakes decision environments such as finance, health, or hiring where explainability and error recovery are critical.
A strong passion for early-career professionals and the intersection of artificial intelligence and human potential.
Skills and Tools
Product Design
Interaction Design
Visual Design
Systems Thinking
Prototyping and Wireframing
Generative AI Tools
User Research and Data Analysis
Cross-functional Collaboration
Salary and Benefits
Annual salary ranging from $225,000 to $250,000 USD
Company equity ownership in a rapidly growing organization
Financial wellness perks including a 401(k) match, competitive pay, and financial coaching
Family support features such as paid parental leave, fertility benefits, and parental coaching
Comprehensive health coverage including medical, dental, vision, mental health support, and a $500 wellness stipend
Professional growth resources featuring a $2,000 learning stipend
Remote and office allowances covering internet, commuting, and free gym or lunch at the San Francisco office
Flexible paid time off, 15 holidays, and 2 flex days
Team connection events and employee referral bonuses
About the Company
Handshake serves as the career network built for the AI economy, connecting millions of knowledge workers, educational institutions, and employers. Major AI labs and global enterprises trust the platform to power career discovery, hiring, and upskilling opportunities.
How to Apply
To submit an application for this opportunity, please visit the official company careers page at joinhandshake.com/careers.
