Founding Engineer (AI/ML)
clera · San Francisco · onsite
ABOUT THE ROLE
As a Founding Engineer focused on AI and machine learning, you will own the intelligence layer of an AI recruiting marketplace. You will build recommendation, ranking, retrieval, and LLM-powered matching systems that help connect candidates with relevant roles.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Own recommendation, ranking, and retrieval systems from design through production.
- Build and improve LLM-powered matching features, measuring their impact on candidate-role alignment.
- Take product features from problem definition to production and ship improvements at a rapid pace.
- Architect and maintain the data pipelines and production services that support machine learning models.
- Work directly with company leadership to turn product goals into deployed systems.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
- Two to five years of experience building and shipping end-to-end software features in production.
- Hands-on experience building recommendation, ranking, or machine learning-based matching systems for real users.
- Experience building LLM API-powered features and shipping machine learning models or products to production.
- Strong production engineering skills in TypeScript or Python, along with experience using PyTorch, TensorFlow, or equivalent frameworks.
- Experience building and maintaining production data pipelines and services, with strong computer science fundamentals.
- More than six months of substantive work experience in the United States, plus a substantive machine learning role at a recognized product company or credible startup.
- Comfort working in a fast-paced startup environment with frequent iteration and daily shipping.
- Demonstrated technical achievement through strong open-source contributions, notable personal projects, or comparable accomplishments.
- React experience is helpful, as is familiarity with Supabase, Prisma, database design, Typesense or similar search infrastructure, embeddings, vector search, and workflow automation tools.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Base salary is $130,000 to $170,000 annually, plus founding-hire equity. Visa sponsorship is available for candidates eligible for a supported sponsorship route.
LOCATION
On-site in San Francisco, California, six days per week. Candidates must be based in San Francisco or willing to relocate.