# Founding Engineer \(AI/ML\) - Company: [Clera]() - Location: San Francisco - Team: Engineering - Employment type: Full Time - Posted: September 8, 2026 ## Job description ### About the Role This is a founding engineering role at a pre-seed AI recruiting marketplace, where you will own the intelligence layer end to end: the recommendation systems, ranking algorithms, and LLM-powered matching that connect candidates to roles. It sits at the absolute core of the product and is yours to architect, build, and ship. ### What You'll Do * Own the full AI/ML intelligence layer, covering recommendation, ranking, and retrieval. * Build and iterate on LLM-powered matching to measurably improve candidate-role alignment. * Take features from problem definition to production on a daily shipping cadence. * Architect and maintain the production data pipelines and services that run the models. * Work directly with the founding team to translate product goals into shipped systems. ### What We're Looking For * 2 to 5 years of production software engineering experience, with genuine applied ML depth, meaning models shipped to real users, not just notebooks. * Hands-on experience building recommender systems, ranking algorithms, or ML-powered matching in production. This is the most important requirement. * Strong proficiency in TypeScript or Python; either is sufficient on its own. * Production experience with LLM APIs and shipping LLM-powered features. * Experience building and maintaining production data pipelines and services. * Strong CS fundamentals and a track record of thriving in fast-paced, unstructured startup environments. * Something outstanding: strong open-source contributions, notable personal projects, or a rigorous CS background. * Nice to have: React, Supabase, Prisma, Typesense, trigger.dev, embeddings, and vector search experience. * Must hold existing U.S. work authorization or be eligible for available sponsorship routes. ### Compensation & Benefits **Salary:** $130,000 to $170,000 annually, plus competitive founding-hire equity. Visa sponsorship is available for eligible candidates. ### Location On-site in San Francisco, California, 6 days per week. Relocation assistance is available for candidates outside the Bay Area. ## Apply [Apply on Clera]() Canonical job page: