Product Counsel - AI

About Handshake

Handshake is building the career network for the AI economy, backed by the largest and most trusted job network on the internet. As the only three-sided job marketplace connecting 18 million knowledge workers, 1,500 educational institutions, and 1 million employers, Handshake powers career discovery, hiring, and upskilling—from first internships to full-time roles, freelance work to gig work, and beyond.

Founded in 2014, we’ve built the most trusted platform for early talent—owning the college-to-career market and powering nearly every career center. Today we’re building on that foundation to help students and early professionals upskill or reskill for the future.

Now’s a great time to join Handshake. Here’s why:

• Category Leader: Over 92% coverage across US universities & 77% of total US university student population.

• Proven Market Demand: Deep employer partnerships across Fortune 500s and the world’s leading AI research labs.

• World-Class Team: Leadership from Scale AI, Open AI, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir, just to name a few.

• Capitalized & Scaling: $434M raised with a $175M+ run rate.

About the Role

Handshake’s Legal team is a strategic and collaborative partner across the company, helping to build and deploy trusted products and services that advances our mission. We’re a small but growing team that thrives on tackling complex issues at the intersection of technology, education, and the workforce. We support every part of the business—from product development and AI governance to commercial partnerships, data privacy, and employment. As the first counsel dedicated to AI, you’ll join a tight-knit group that values practical judgment, intellectual curiosity, bias for action and a deep commitment to Handshake’s goal of democratizing access to opportunity.

In this role, you will work on diverse legal and regulatory issues across Handshake’s human data products and core career platform, including emerging AI regulations, data protection and privacy, IP, and employment.

• Serve as trusted legal partner to product teams building AI-powered products and platform features, including human data infrastructure, job recommendations, career services tools, and more.

• Advise on a wide range of legal and regulatory issues related to AI development and deployment, including intellectual property, privacy, fairness, safety, transparency, and global AI regulations.

• Support and help structure strategic relationships with leading AI labs, enterprise customers, and universities.

• Partner cross-functionally across product, engineering, security, sales, finance and people to provide practical, risk-calibrated advice on product and business initiatives.

• Develop and operationalize scalable legal review, product counseling, and AI governance processes that enable rapid innovation while ensuring compliance and trust.

• Stay on the forefront of emerging legal frameworks—including the EU AI Act, Colorado AI Act, and NYC Local Law 144—and translate evolving standards into actionable guidance for internal teams.

Desired Capabilities

• JD and membership in at least one U.S. state bar.

• 8+ years of legal experience, with significant in-house experience supporting product, platform, or emerging technology teams.

• Deep familiarity with laws and regulations governing AI, privacy, IP, consumer protection, and/or platform products.

• Demonstrated ability to lead and scale product counseling and legal review programs in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

• Strong technical fluency and curiosity—you’re excited to partner with engineers and data scientists to understand how things work under the hood.

• Exceptional communication skills and business judgment—you know how to balance legal risk with strategic goals and move quickly with cross-functional teams.

• Passion for Handshake’s mission to democratize access to opportunity—and a deep interest in responsible AI.

Extra Credit

• Prior experience supporting AI, ML, or data platform products

• Familiarity with AI risk management frameworks, bias audit practices, or AI safety and transparency issues

• Experience working in marketplace platforms

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 coaching

💝 Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, $500 wellness stipend

📚 Growth: $2,000 learning stipend, ongoing development

💻 Remote & Office: Stipends for home office setup, internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office

🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days, winter #ShakeBreak where our whole office closes for a week!

🤝 Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses

Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.