Everyone is welcome at Handshake. We know diverse teams build better products and we are committed to creating an inclusive culture built on a foundation of respect for all individuals. We strongly encourage candidates from non-traditional backgrounds, historically marginalized or underrepresented groups to apply.
Your impact
Handshake is hiring a Senior Operations Specialist reporting to the Senior Operations Manager on the Global Support Team. You’ll report directly into the Global Support org and will develop, maintain, and implement tooling, integrations, technology, and infrastructure that supports our Global Support and Trust and Safety teams. You’ll create and maintain Looker reports and dashboards to measure customer experience, Support and T&S trends, and team performance metrics. Your primary responsibility will be maintaining and enhancing Zendesk through triggers, automations, staff permissions, and queue/routing optimization.
You’ll work with our tech stack (including but not limited to Zendesk, Calendly, Looker, Slack, Decagon, Confluence, Datadog, Linear, Lessonly, Zapier, Playvox, App Follow, Fullstory, and Salesforce) to build scalable solutions and processes, while nurturing an innovative culture. You’ll work closely with Support and T&S Leadership, Agents, outsourced staff (BPO/Business Process Outsourcing), Contractors, and cross functional partners to improve efficiency and quality. Additionally, you’ll have opportunities to help with projects, automate and streamline our tooling, and build and maintain AI tools across chatbots, voice, agent assist, and other knowledge/operations tools. You’ll also be able to contribute to our world-class customer experience, revamp our reporting and tech stack, and grow technical, project management, and leadership skills.
Your role
- You will be responsible for supporting the day-to-day operations and software systems used by our Global Support and T&S teams, primarily our Zendesk instance and integrations with agent workflows and Support/T&S processes. Your typical day will consist of the following:
- 90%: resolving inquires or requests related to our tool stack, integrations, or user access
- 5%: assisting with projects or documentation
- 5%: admin tasks (attending meetings, reading email, slack, and tool updates/newsletters)
- You will build and maintain our tech stack (including but not limited to Zendesk, Calendly, Looker, Slack, Decagon, Confluence, Datadog, Linear, Lessonly, Zapier, Playvox, App Follow, Fullstory, and Salesforce)
- You’ll help support our Ops strategy, metrics, roadmap, workstreams, and SOPs to ensure a seamless, scaled, and world-class experience for internal teams and customers
- You’ll work in a fast-paced queue of Linear requests, prioritizing requests according to business impact, and drive to appropriate SLAs.
- You’ll partner with Support, Success, T&S, Sales, R&D, and IT teams to streamline business operations.
Your experience
- At least 2+ years Zendesk Admin experience
- At least 1+ year experience as an enterprise Support agent or customer facing role
- Located in PST or MST zones, available to work after hours for occasional incidents
- Travel: Able to travel to San Fransisco, CA once a year for annual onsite (typically June or July)
- Customer Service: you have a customer first mindset, demonstrate empathy by understanding and caring about the customer’s feelings/needs/challenges, and create solutions that address real customer pain points.
- Resilience: we’re a fast paced hyper growth startup where things move fast, therefore, you’re flexible, comfortable, and willing to change approaches when necessary, staying calm and focused under pressure. You’re comfortable with high visibility and can easily bounce back/recover from setbacks, challenges, or adversity. You’re not afraid of anything new or ambiguous!
- Independent: we’re a small but mighty team, therefore your impact and visibility are very high. Ownership is paramount and you’ll need to work majority of the time with minimal assistance from peers or manager.
- Problem Solving: you can break down complex problems into smaller/manageable parts, look at the situation from different angles, consider various solutions, use available resources (including tools, information, and people) effectively to find solutions, have a strong ability to manage a complex tech stack, and learn core tools quickly.
- Incident Handling: You were part of a small team that’s responsible for the tech stack powering support and customer, handling incidents and every task with detail and care. You’re able to switch from low level work to critical incidents with ease.
- Time Management: you practice effective time management by prioritizing, knowing when to take a break or ask for help, and planning in advance.
- Communication: you command engagement and connection, communicate in a clear and articulate way, and can identify where others are coming from to approach solutions in a balanced way.
Bonus areas of expertise
- 6+ months SQL, Python, Java, JavaScript, C#, C++, or HTML experience
- 1+ year experience with API integrations, GitHub, or Zapier
- 1+ year experience with Looker, Zendesk Explore, or similar business intelligence reporting tools
- Zendesk Support Administrator Expert or Zendesk App Developer 1 certificate (within past 2 years)
- Microsoft Excel certificate (within past 2 years)
- Previously worked at a hyper growth startup or small team (less than 5 people)
- Previously worked at a SaaS or ed-tech company
Interview Process
The interview process for this role is as follows:
- submit your resume
- Round 1: complete our take home assessment (can take 1-3 hours)
- Round 2: 30 minute Group interview with Global Support and Trust & Safety managers + 60 minute Hiring Manager interview with our Sr. Operations Manager
- Round 3: 60 minute Executive interview with our VP of Global Support
Compensation range
**Please note that we can't hire folks located in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina or Wyoming.
About us
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.When it comes to our workforce strategy, we’ve thought deeply about how work-life should look at Handshake.
With our hybrid-work model, employees benefit from collaboration and shared team experiences three days per week in our vibrant offices, and enjoy the flexibility of remote work two days per week (unless noted in the specific job posting). Handshake is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, London, and Berlin.
What we offer
At Handshake, we'll give you the tools to feel healthy, happy and secure.
Benefits below apply to US employees in full-time positions.
- 💰 Equity and ownership in a fast-growing company.
- 🍼 16 Weeks of paid parental leave for birth giving parents & 10 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birth giving parents.
- 💝 Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision policies including LGTBQ+ Coverage. We also provide resources for Mental Health Assistance, Employee Assistance Programs and counseling support.
- 📚 Generous learning & development opportunities and an annual $2,000 stipend for you to grow your skills and career.
- 💰 Financial coaching through Origin to help you through your financial journey.
- 🛜 Monthly internet stipend and a brand new MacBook to allow you to do your best work.
- 🚃 Monthly commuter stipend for you to expense your travel to the office (for office-based employees).
- 🥗 Free lunch provided 3x a week across all offices.
- 🤝 Referral bonus to reward you when you bring great talent to Handshake.
- 🏦 401k Match: Handshake offers a dollar-for-dollar match on 1% of deferred salary, up to a maximum of $1,200 per year.
- 🏝 All full-time US-based Handshakers are eligible for our flexible time off policy to get out and see the world. In addition, we offer 13 standardized holidays, and 2 additional days of flexible holiday time off. Lastly, we have a Winter #ShakeBreak, a one-week period of Collective Time Off.
- 💻 Handshake offers $500 home office stipend for you to spend during your first 3 months to create a productive and comfortable workspace at home.
- 🍼 Family support: Parental leave coaching and support provided by Parentaly. We partner with Maven Clinic to provide a lifetime coverage up to $15K for expenses related to fertility and family forming!
- 💰 Lifestyle Savings Account: We offer you an annual stipend of $500 to use for purchases such as fitness classes, gym memberships, work-from-home setup, and more.
Looking for more? Explore our mission, values and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.Handshake is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or reasonable accommodation, please let your recruiter know during initial communications.
