Clera is a talent-matching platform that replaces traditional job applications by connecting candidates and hiring teams through curated introductions.
ABOUT THE ROLE This is a rare, high-impact founding engineer position at an early-stage consumer AI startup building a real-time, AI-enabled platform to digitize human connection. You'll work directly alongside the founder — a Thiel Fellow — as one of the first engineers, shaping both the product and the engineering culture from the ground up. This is a fully on-site role in San Francisco. You'll take on broad technical ownership across a bold consumer product focused on scalable, meaningful human interactions — integrating cutting-edge real-time video, audio, and memory systems. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Work across all aspects of the application alongside the founder, designers, and other engineers. - Build new systems for memory, retrieval, proactivity, and AI responsiveness. - Integrate the latest internal and external real-time video generation and audio synthesis models. - Set the bar for engineering quality and help recruit world-class talent to the team. - Dogfood the product extensively — you genuinely care about real user value and quality. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR Required: - 2–7 years of software engineering experience (not a new grad — some professional engineering experience is required). - Computer Science degree from a top-tier university. - Strong CS fundamentals. - High energy, exceptionally bright, and driven to build fast. - Proven entrepreneurial spirit — startup exposure or experience in fast-moving, ambiguous environments. - Track record of technically complex side projects or independent builds. - Comfortable with — and excited by — early-stage chaos and the demands of a founding team environment. Nice to Have: - Experience with real-time media, vision or video models, audio synthesis, or voice systems. - Experience with memory and retrieval systems or agentic AI architectures. - Proficiency in Python, including typed scientific Python. - Familiarity with AI-assisted or agentic development tooling. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS - Salary: $175,000 – $225,000 per year - Equity as a founding team member - Visa sponsorship available LOCATION This role is fully on-site in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be willing and able to work in-person full-time. Remote work is not available for this position.