Founding Engineer
clera · San Francisco · $150,000 – $220,000
Open. First seen 9 September 2026.
Description
About the Role
A seed-funded B2B SaaS startup in the people-data and AI agents space is looking for a high-agency Founding Engineer to build core agent infrastructure and help scale the platform toward a Series A milestone. You'll work directly with the founding team — including the CEO and CTO — owning critical systems that power a people-data and agent platform used by developers and enterprises alike. This is a rare opportunity to shape technical strategy from the ground up at a fast-growing, well-backed startup.
What You'll Do
Design, build, and operate core infrastructure including APIs, LLM-powered workflows, web scraping systems, and large-scale knowledge graph architecture. Architect and maintain production-grade systems capable of handling millions of API requests, with a strong focus on performance, cost efficiency, and reliability across cloud and Linux server environments. Own projects end-to-end — from ambiguous problem definition through deployment and iteration — shipping quickly without sacrificing system integrity.
Collaborate directly with the CEO and CTO on technical decisions, roadmap priorities, and foundational architectural choices that define long-term direction. Contribute broadly across the stack, including developer documentation, technical tutorials, internal tooling, and experimental builds that showcase and stress-test APIs.
What We're Looking For
Required: 2+ years of experience in full-stack or backend software engineering. Proficiency in JavaScript and TypeScript. Experience with agent orchestration, LLMs, or web scraping.
Experience working with Linux servers in a production environment. Proven track record of shipping code to production supporting a large user base. Experience building entire products end-to-end, not just isolated features.
Strong computer science fundamentals. Must be authorized to work in the United States — visa sponsorship is not available. Must be available to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days per week; relocation is required.
Nice to Have
Previous experience as a founder or early-stage engineer at a startup. Familiarity with distributed systems, microservices, data pipelines, or cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP). Compensation & Benefits Salary: $150,000 – $220,000 USD annually, depending on experience. Equity participation as a founding team member. Location San Francisco, CA — fully on-site, 5 days per week. Relocation to San Francisco is required for this role. No visa sponsorship available; must be authorized to work in the United States.
ABOUT THE ROLE
A seed-funded B2B SaaS startup in the people-data and AI agents space is looking for a high-agency Founding Engineer to build core agent infrastructure and help scale the platform toward a Series A milestone. You'll work directly with the founding team — including the CEO and CTO — owning critical systems that power a people-data and agent platform used by developers and enterprises alike. This is a rare opportunity to shape technical strategy from the ground up at a fast-growing, well-backed startup.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Design, build, and operate core infrastructure including APIs, LLM-powered workflows, web scraping systems, and large-scale knowledge graph architecture.
- Architect and maintain production-grade systems capable of handling millions of API requests, with a strong focus on performance, cost efficiency, and reliability across cloud and Linux server environments.
- Own projects end-to-end — from ambiguous problem definition through deployment and iteration — shipping quickly without sacrificing system integrity.
- Collaborate directly with the CEO and CTO on technical decisions, roadmap priorities, and foundational architectural choices that define long-term direction.
- Contribute broadly across the stack, including developer documentation, technical tutorials, internal tooling, and experimental builds that showcase and stress-test APIs.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
Required: - 2+ years of experience in full-stack or backend software engineering.
- Proficiency in JavaScript and TypeScript.
- Experience with agent orchestration, LLMs, or web scraping.
- Experience working with Linux servers in a production environment.
- Proven track record of shipping code to production supporting a large user base.
- Experience building entire products end-to-end, not just isolated features.
- Strong computer science fundamentals.
- Must be authorized to work in the United States — visa sponsorship is not available.
- Must be available to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days per week; relocation is required.
Nice to Have
- Previous experience as a founder or early-stage engineer at a startup.
- Familiarity with distributed systems, microservices, data pipelines, or cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP). COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
- Salary: $150,000 – $220,000 USD annually, depending on experience.
- Equity participation as a founding team member. LOCATION
- San Francisco, CA — fully on-site, 5 days per week.
- Relocation to San Francisco is required for this role.
- No visa sponsorship available; must be authorized to work in the United States.
Posting history
Reposted 7 times since 9 September 2026: a posting for this role in San Francisco was taken down and the role was posted again.
- 25 September 2026 – open
- 24 September 2026 – open
- 24 September 2026 – open
- 24 September 2026 – open
- 23 September 2026 – open
- 19 September 2026 – open
- 17 September 2026 – open
- 17 September 2026 – open
- 16 September 2026 – open
- 16 September 2026 – open
Salary context
33 other open postings titled Founding Engineer state a salary: median USD 150,000 to USD 250,000 a year.
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