Backend-Leaning Product Engineer

Clera

Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Backend-focused software engineering with experience in shipping customer-facing features.
  • Demonstrated full feature lifecycle ownership, from ideation to iteration based on feedback.
  • Proven track record of shipping products in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
  • Strong collaboration and communication skills across functions.
  • Legally eligible to work in the US without employer sponsorship.
  • Located in San Francisco or willing to relocate; in-office presence required.

Responsibilities

  • Own end-to-end feature development with minimal PM oversight.
  • Build and maintain backend systems, APIs, and data models.
  • Integrate with external tools and legacy systems efficiently.
  • Design workflows for AI and automation-driven features.
  • Debug production issues and demonstrate strong engineering judgment.
  • Collaborate closely with founders and cross-functional teams in a hybrid setting.
  • Balance backend responsibilities with occasional full-stack work.

Benefits

  • Meaningful equity package.
Full Job Description
About the Role

Join a small, high-ownership product team at an early-stage B2B SaaS startup as a backend-leaning product engineer. You'll own customer-facing features end-to-end, navigate messy integrations and legacy systems, and make product and engineering trade-offs with speed and strong judgment. This is a role for someone who thrives in ambiguity, moves fast, and cares deeply about shipping real products that customers use.
What You'll Do
  • Own features end-to-end - from design through shipping and iteration - with minimal PM oversight.
  • Build and maintain backend systems, APIs, data models, and automation pipelines.
  • Integrate with external tools, legacy systems, and third-party services.
  • Design workflows and orchestration for AI/automation-driven product features.
  • Debug production issues and exercise strong engineering judgment under pressure.
  • Collaborate closely with founders, customers, and cross-functional stakeholders in a hybrid San Francisco setting.
  • Balance full-stack work when required, with a clear emphasis on backend ownership.
What We're Looking For

Required:
  • Backend-focused software engineering with hands-on experience designing, implementing, and shipping customer-facing features.
  • Demonstrated ownership of the full feature lifecycle - ideation, implementation, and iteration based on customer feedback.
  • Track record of shipping real products, ideally in 0-to-1 or ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
  • Strong cross-functional collaboration and communication skills.
  • Must be legally eligible to work in the US without employer sponsorship.
  • Based in San Francisco or willing to relocate; hybrid/in-office presence required.

Nice to Have:
  • Experience with applied AI, agentic workflows, RAG pipelines, or LLM-enabled features.
  • Python proficiency (modern web/backend stacks considered - engineering quality matters more than specific stack).
  • Systems integration experience with external APIs and legacy platforms.
  • Early-stage startup experience or founding engineer background.

Not a fit if you are: frontend-only, data/internal-tools-only, pure DevOps/SRE without product ownership, pure research ML without shipping experience, or primarily motivated by corporate titles.
Compensation & Benefits
  • Base salary: up to $275,000 depending on experience.
  • Equity: meaningful equity package.
  • No visa sponsorship available.
Location

San Francisco, CA - hybrid/on-site. Candidates must be based in SF or willing to relocate.

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