Clera

Founding AI Engineer

San Francisco
Salary
$120,000 - $180,000 per year
Level
Mid
Work type
On-site · San Francisco
Visa
Not offered

Open. First seen 6 November 2026.

Apply on the company's site →

About the role

About the Role

This is a founding AI engineering role at a seed-stage construction technology company building an intelligence layer that transforms messy blueprints, permits, and construction documents into actionable insights — making building more efficient and equitable. Backed by top-tier investors, the company is a small, high-conviction team applying state-of-the-art computer vision and multimodal AI to real construction workflows in areas like cost estimation and permitting, with direct impact on housing, hospitals, and schools.

You'll be one of the earliest technical hires, shaping the AI architecture and product direction from the ground up. This role is full-time, in-office in San Francisco — relocation-ready candidates are welcome.

What You'll Do

  • Apply state-of-the-art computer vision, LLM, and multimodal AI techniques to real-world construction documents.
  • Own and prioritize the intelligence layer — modeling, data pipelines, and inference — over application UI.
  • Rapidly prototype models and iterate based on user feedback and real-world data.
  • Build and deploy production AI systems that operate on noisy, heterogeneous inputs.
  • Collaborate closely with product and end users to surface and solve high-impact problems.
  • Handle practical engineering work as needed — including data labeling, ETL, and deployment tasks — as part of a small, scrappy team.
  • Communicate progress and tradeoffs with empathy and transparency across the team.

What We're Looking For

  • Applied computer vision and ML experience — hands-on model training and deployment in production environments.
  • 0-to-1 builder mindset — experience launching AI systems or building core parts of a new product from scratch.
  • Familiarity with state-of-the-art CV, LLM, and multimodal model approaches and tooling.
  • Comfort iterating quickly and improving prototypes based on real user feedback.
  • Strong communication skills and a growth mindset; an honest, empathetic collaborator.
  • Willingness to roll up your sleeves for practical engineering work as part of a small, founding team.
  • Impact-driven orientation; ideally, prior experience building something people used or paid for.
  • US work authorization required — visa sponsorship is not available.
  • All experience levels considered, including new graduates with strong applied ML work.

Compensation & Benefits

  • Salary: $120,000 – $180,000 per year, depending on experience.
  • Early-stage equity as a founding team member.
  • Direct impact on the product roadmap and technical direction of the company.

Location

San Francisco, CA — full-time, in-office. Candidates based in San Francisco or willing to relocate are encouraged to apply. Remote work is not available for this role.

What this role asks for

Particular to this role

Computer Vision · ETL

Rare in Clera's other 182 open postings.

Standard for data science / ML roles

LLM · Machine Learning

Common in data science / ML postings at any company.

Compared with Clera's other open jobs.

The team: Engineering HIRES STEADILY

This role is one of 357 open in Engineering. 225 were posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in March: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.

WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS

LLM (181 of 357), TypeScript (179 of 357), React (155 of 357), Python (150 of 357), Machine Learning (75 of 357), Supabase (73 of 357), PostgreSQL (69 of 357)

OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM

From the team and dates on Clera's own job board.

Other openings for this role

6 open postings for this role in San Francisco, first posted 9 September 2026. The company is likely hiring for more than one position. None has been taken down and posted again.

Salary context

10 other open postings titled Founding AI Engineer state a salary: median USD 160,000 to USD 225,000 a year.

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SKILLSMachine Learning 20,684LLM 19,687Computer Vision 4,564ETL 4,182AI and machine learning 9,231
PLACESSan Francisco 8,593United States 77,407
COMPANYJobs at Clera 360

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