General Manager, India
About Handshake
Handshake is the career network for the AI economy. With 20M+ knowledge workers, 1,600 educational institutions, 1M employers (including 100% of the Fortune 50), and every major AI lab on the planet, we sit at the intersection of talent, education, and frontier AI. In 2025, we tripled ARR at scale - and we’re just getting started.
Why join Handshake now:
Shape how careers evolve in the AI economy, at global scale
Work directly with frontier AI labs, Fortune 500 companies, and top universities
Join a leadership team with alumni from Scale AI, Meta, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir
Build and scale a business with a credible path to billions in revenue
The Role
We are hiring a General Manager, India to own Handshake AI’s presence, operations, and growth in the region. This role is accountable for execution, talent, operating rigor, and long-term scale in India. You will stand up and lead one of Handshake’s most critical global hubs, ensuring India becomes a durable, high-performing engine for AI delivery and innovation.
You will operate with broad autonomy and real authority, partnering closely with US-based executives and teams while building local leadership, systems, and culture. Your success will directly impact Handshake’s ability to serve frontier AI labs with speed, quality, and reliability at global scale.
Own Handshake AI’s India operations end-to-end, acting as the senior-most leader and decision-maker in-region
Build, scale, and lead multi-layered teams delivering high-stakes human data and evaluation programs with consistent quality and on-time execution
Establish and operate end-to-end delivery systems (staffing, workflows, metrics, reviews) to increase throughput, utilization, and cost efficiency across strategic initiatives
Develop local leadership: grow managers into strong operators and people leaders capable of scaling orgs, not just teams
Establish scalable processes and operating norms that enable seamless collaboration across India and US teams with minimal dependency and handoffs
Partner with global stakeholders on strategy, resourcing, and long-term expansion plans
You Have
Must-Haves:
10+ years in execution-heavy, operationally complex environments (AI/data operations, marketplaces, large-scale services, strategy & ops)
5+ years leading managers and senior operators with clear accountability for outcomes
Proven ability to stand up organizations, systems, and operating cadence in ambiguous, fast-scaling environments
Strong business judgment and ownership mindset — you run the business, not just the org chart
Hands-on leadership style; comfortable stepping into the details when execution is at risk
Deep people leadership skills across hiring, performance management, coaching, and succession planning
Experience working with globally distributed teams across time zones
Track record of building culture, discipline, and operational excellence from scratch
Bonus Points:
Background in AI, data labeling, evaluation, or technical services organizations
Prior GM, Country Manager, or Head-of-Region experience
Experience scaling offshore or international hubs from early stage to maturity
Experience in high-growth startups or zero-to-one team builds
Perks
Competitive base salary + generous equity grant (4-year vest)
Well-defined performance bonus (10–100% of base)
Housing bonus spread across the first year
Comprehensive medical insurance
Food credit for every in-office day