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
As an Public Sector Account Director, you will be crucial in building and closing deals within the SLG sector. You will develop and nurture relationships with key stakeholders, identify opportunities, and drive the sales process from lead generation to deal closure across your accounts. This role requires in-depth knowledge of the hiring needs and challenges of large and small SLG agencies and an acute understanding of how they function. It will also require strategic thinking, relationship building, and a strong focus on achieving revenue targets. You will:
Develop and cultivate deep relationships with senior executives at executive levels
Meet or exceed annual quota by generating high volume of meetings with SLG and its large departments and agencies
Understand a department or agencies’ business drivers, challenges and pain points
Navigate SLG acquisition processes and contracting
Schedule, manage and run large department meetings with senior economic buyers within large SLG Departments
Create proposals, executive briefings, and conduct executive roundtables for HR and business leaders at SLG agencies
Generate scalable pipeline and revenue to achieve 100% of annual quota attainment
Lead participation in industry events to drive new business development
Coordinate large-scale efforts across various departments to drive enterprise-wide agreements
Utilize Salesforce.com on a daily basis to manage activity, leads, follow-up and pipeline
Execute new sales activities in support of our market pursuit when requested
Proven knowledge of US government acquisition process and contracting
5+ years of Account Executive experience selling Saas based solutions into the SLG space
Success in pitching and closing six-figure deals
Experience navigating and building relationships within large departments and agencies within the SLG
Proven ability to negotiate large government contracts while developing off-cycle pipeline and new lead generation
Proven success selling enterprise-wide solutions
Excellent customer-facing skills and ability to manage a room of senior government officials
Ability to navigate complex contract structures
A strong history of quota attainment and excellent performance
Experience preparing account plans and business value narratives
Proven ability to collaborate successfully with a go-to-market team
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: Internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office
🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days
🤝 Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses
Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers
Handshake is the career platform for Gen Z. With a community of over 17 million students, alumni, employers, and career educators, Handshake’s network is where career advice and discovery turn into first, second, and third jobs.
Nearly 1 million companies use Handshake to build their future workforce—from Fortune 500 to federal agencies, school districts to startups, healthcare systems to small businesses.
Handshake is built for where you’re going, not where you’ve been.
