Talent Sourcing Specialist (Contract)

ABOUT HANDSHAKE

• Handshake was founded on a simple belief that everyone deserves a path to a great career, regardless of where they went to school or who they know. Today, we power 25 million job seekers, 1 million+ employers, and 1,600 educational institutions.
• In 2025, we started Handshake AI and built the fastest-growing AI data business in history. We work directly with frontier AI lab researchers to create evaluations, publish benchmarks, and push the boundary of data. We’ve grown from $0 to ~$1B run rate and pay ~$60M to over 30K individuals every month.
• 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 world’s 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
• We're seeking a driven Talent Sourcing Specialist to join our Handshake AI team partnering closely with the Growth team to own top-of-funnel recruiting. This is a high-volume, high-velocity role focused on sourcing and screening candidates for the Handshake AI Fellowship.
• Based in our San Francisco office, you’ll identify and engage top talent across diverse domains, taking full ownership of your pipeline in a fast-paced, goal-oriented environment.
• - Own top-of-funnel sourcing for the Growth team, partnering closely on role requirements, intake, and pipeline priorities.
• - Source and engage passive talent through creative outreach, boolean search, research, and market mapping — with a focus on technical and STEM-background candidates.
• - Provide market insights and strategic guidance, leveraging your close partnership with the team to advise on what’s working, what isn’t, and broader market trends.
• - Conduct initial candidate screens and manage handoffs to the project teams.
• - Track and report recruiting metrics, ensuring data integrity in Ashby and other tools, and leverage insights to refine sourcing strategies and improve outcomes.

DESIRED CAPABILITIES

• - Experience: ~2–4 years of recruiting or sourcing experience. We welcome both agency and in-house backgrounds, particularly candidates interested in transitioning into a high-growth tech environment - Sourcing Expertise: Proven ability to find and engage niche talent pools.
• - Technical / Industry Knowledge: Experience sourcing candidates from specialized fields, including STEM, data, or technical backgrounds - Drive & Urgency: You thrive in fast-moving environments with shifting priorities and big goals.
• - Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to quickly build trust with both candidates and hiring managers.
• - Metrics-Minded: You care about your numbers and use data to improve. Familiarity with tracking source, conversion, and grow metrics is a plus.
• - Tools: Proficiency with ATS platforms (Ashby a plus), LinkedIn Recruiter, and other sourcing tools, with a strong ability to quickly learn and adapt to new technologies.
• - Work Hours: Must be ok working PST hours.
• - Comfort with ambiguity and a willingness to help shape processes, not just follow them.

EXTRA CREDIT

• - Prior agency or executive search experience, especially in high-volume or hard-to-fill markets.
• - Experience recruiting for go-to-market, sales, or growth-focused teams.
• - If you are local to San Francisco, bonus points for willingness to come into the office
• Explore our mission and values at joinhandshake.com/careers http://joinhandshake.com/careers.