Founding AI Engineer

Clera

$150K — $200K *
Consumer Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years of hands-on experience in AI/ML system development.
  • Proficiency in full-stack development from data pipelines to user-facing applications.
  • Experience with multi-channel messaging APIs and AI agent frameworks.
  • Background in recommendation systems or social graphs is highly desirable.
  • A mindset geared towards ownership and rapid execution amidst uncertainty.

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement a social graph using advanced filtering and ranking techniques.
  • Create and optimize large-scale personalization and group-matching algorithms.
  • Architect workflows for AI agents across various messaging platforms.
  • Manage the lifecycle of AI agents throughout user interaction processes.
  • Develop backend infrastructure connecting APIs and core data systems.
  • Enhance human-AI interaction to ensure user-friendly agent experiences.

Benefits

  • Founding-level equity package to share in the company's success.
Full Job Description
About the Role

This is a founding engineering role at an early-stage consumer social tech startup building AI-powered in-person social experiences for young people. You'll sit at the heart of the product, owning the two systems that make everything work: intelligent group matching and multi-channel AI agent communication. The work is technically deep and directly shapes how people form real-world friendships at scale.
What You'll Do
  • Design and build a real-world social graph using collaborative filtering, embeddings, ranking systems, and reinforcement learning from live interaction outcomes.
  • Develop large-scale personalization and group-matching algorithms that continuously improve based on real-world friendship signals.
  • Architect and maintain multi-channel AI agent workflows across major consumer messaging platforms (SMS, Instagram, WhatsApp, and others).
  • Orchestrate a suite of AI agents handling end-to-end user journeys - onboarding, profiling, matching, logistics, reminders, and follow-ups.
  • Build scalable backend infrastructure connecting messaging APIs, third-party services, and the core data layer.
  • Contribute to human-AI interaction design, making agent experiences feel natural and effortless for users.
What We're Looking For
  • Proven, hands-on experience building AI/ML systems in production environments.
  • Full-stack comfort spanning data pipelines through to user-facing AI interactions.
  • Familiarity with multi-channel messaging APIs and modern AI agent frameworks.
  • Experience with recommendation systems, social graphs, or large-scale personalization is a strong plus.
  • Founding-engineer mindset: you ship fast, take end-to-end ownership, and stay composed in ambiguity.
Compensation & Benefits
  • Salary: $150,000 - $200,000 per year
  • Equity: Founding-level equity package
  • Visa sponsorship: Not available
Location

On-site in San Francisco, California, United States. This is an in-person role working alongside the founding team.

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