Ex-Founder / Ex-CTO

Clera

• $200K — $250K *
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Experience founding or leading a venture-backed or bootstrapped startup.
  • Prior role as CTO or first technical hire with proven product impact.
  • Operational experience in a service business, particularly with AI integration.
  • Ability to outline a first-90-days plan tailored to personal strengths.
  • Strong judgment and execution speed in a high-trust startup environment.
  • Technical acumen to credibly lead engineering teams and decisions.
  • Willingness to commit to in-person work in San Francisco.

Responsibilities

  • Define ownership over a significant domain, such as architecture, product strategy, or operations.
  • Collaborate closely with the founder to establish hiring standards for engineering roles.
  • Translate founding ideas into a tangible and fast-delivered product.
  • For technical track: spearhead engineering direction and set the company's technical culture.

Benefits

  • Relocation support for candidates moving to San Francisco.
  • Visa sponsorship available for qualified candidates.
Full Job Description
About the Role

This is a founding-team seat at an early-stage AI infrastructure startup building the operating layer for AI-native service businesses. The scope is deliberately open: engineering leadership, product direction, or running the operating side of the company, shaped around what you do best. If you can own a concrete first-90-days plan, the role is built around it.
What You'll Do
  • Define and own a major domain, whether that is technical architecture, product strategy, or company operations, from day one.
  • Work alongside the founder to set the pace and standards for the first engineering hires joining the team.
  • Translate a strong founding thesis into shipped product, fast.
  • For the technical leadership track: lead engineering direction, make hands-on architectural decisions, and establish the technical culture of the company.
What We're Looking For
  • Has founded a venture-backed or bootstrapped company, regardless of outcome.
  • Has served as CTO or first technical hire at a startup, or shipped a product a team still credits them for.
  • Has run a service business and understands from the inside what AI-native operations can replace.
  • Can articulate a concrete first-90-days scope and wants a role shaped around their strengths rather than a fixed job description.
  • Brings the execution pace and judgment expected on a small, high-trust founding team.
  • For the technical seat: sufficient hands-on depth to lead engineering direction credibly.
  • Committed to working in person in San Francisco full-time.
Compensation & Benefits

Compensation and equity are sized for someone building the company, not joining it. Specific numbers are shared on the first call. Relocation support and visa sponsorship are available.
Location

On-site in San Francisco, United States. Relocation assistance and visa sponsorship are provided.

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