Clera

Founding Engineer

  • LocationSan Francisco, California, United States
  • Listed17/10/2026
  • SalaryUS$160–200k/yr
  • FieldSoftware engineering

Average of 11 Founding Engineer jobs in the United States we read: US$14,398/mo · updated October 22. A market reference, not this job's salary.

About the job

ABOUT THE ROLE

Join an early engineering team building AI-powered software for industrial ingredient manufacturers. You will work closely with the founding team, take ownership across the product, and help automate complex document-heavy workflows in a traditionally underserved industry.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

  • Build backend systems that ingest and process real-world documents from customer systems and inboxes.
  • Develop AI agents that complete complex compliance and food safety documents.
  • Own product features end to end, from backend services and data models through to the user interface.
  • Ship quickly, gather feedback from users, and improve the product based on what you learn.
  • Work across application development, infrastructure, and AI as the needs of the team evolve.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

  • Experience can range from 1 to 10+ years. We value shipped work, ownership, and increasing scope over a specific degree or career length.
  • Prior experience as a founder, founding engineer, or one of the first engineers at an early-stage startup.
  • A track record of building and launching production products or major features that real users rely on.
  • Strong full-stack skills, including the ability to work across backend services, frontend interfaces, and infrastructure.
  • Experience with AI or LLM products, agents, retrieval, or automation, ideally in production.
  • Relevant technologies include Kotlin, Spring Boot, React, Next.js, Postgres, GCP, and commercial LLM providers. Experience with equivalent tools is welcome.
  • Backend experience processing documents or unstructured data and designing relational schemas is valuable.
  • Interest in industrial software, supply chains, food manufacturing, or other traditional industries is a plus.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Base salary is $160,000 to $200,000 annually, plus 0.5% to 2% equity. Visa sponsorship is not available.

LOCATION

This is an on-site role in San Francisco, California.

Job details

Company
Clera
Work model
On-site
Contract
Full time
Posted
10 October 2026
Advert site
jobs.ashbyhq.com

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