Software Engineer II, Reinforcement Learning Environments

Role Overview

Handshake AI is building the Reinforcement Learning Environments (RLE) platform—interactive systems where frontier AI models learn to complete real-world work. As a Software Engineer II, you will build the platforms powering the next generation of AI, simulating end-to-end workflows across domains like software engineering, finance, and legal research to generate interaction data for training and evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and scale the Reinforcement Learning Environments (RLE) platform and its underlying infrastructure.
• Partner with US-based Engineering, Research, Product, and Operations teams to execute a shared roadmap.
• Design and implement scalable backend services and data generation pipelines.
• Build modular environment domains that integrate with model training and evaluation workflows.
• Improve platform reliability, observability, performance, and developer productivity.
• Participate in technical design discussions and contribute to architecture decisions.
• Write high-quality, maintainable code and improve engineering standards.

Requirements

• 3+ years of professional software engineering experience building backend systems, distributed systems, or platform infrastructure.
• Strong proficiency with TypeScript, React, and modern backend architectures.
• Strong understanding of PostgreSQL, data modeling, distributed systems, and system design.
• Experience building and operating production systems on AWS or GCP.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.
• Experience collaborating with globally distributed engineering teams.

Nice to Have

• Experience with reinforcement learning infrastructure, simulation systems, or AI evaluation platforms.
• Experience building internal developer platforms or workflow orchestration systems.
• Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience supporting applied ML or AI research teams.
• Experience working in a fast-growing startup.

Skills

• TypeScript
• React
• PostgreSQL
• AWS
• Distributed Systems