Founding Product Engineer

Clera

$140K — $180K *
Legal & Accounting
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 1-3 years of experience in building and shipping production software, preferably at an early-stage startup or as a founder.
  • Strong full-stack development skills, particularly with TypeScript, React, and modern backend stacks.
  • Hands-on experience with AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), either in a professional setting or personal projects.
  • Demonstrated ability to own features from conception to production deployment.
  • Comfortable making engineering trade-offs and architecture decisions under tight deadlines.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with high ownership and minimal process.
  • Entrepreneurial mindset with strong product instincts.

Responsibilities

  • Build and maintain core product features from data models to user interfaces.
  • Collaborate with AI engineers and attorneys to convert legal workflows into software.
  • Make strategic decisions on architecture and tools balancing immediate speed with future maintainability.
  • Write high-quality, reliable code while taking ownership of deployed features.
  • Help shape the engineering culture, standards, and hiring as the team grows.
  • Ensure a customer-first approach, emphasizing both urgency and quality.

Benefits

  • Equity offered as part of a founding team package.
  • Opportunity to shape engineering culture in a startup environment.
  • In-person collaboration with a team of attorneys and AI engineers.
  • Hands-on involvement in innovative legaltech solutions.
  • Work at the forefront of technology in the legal industry.
Full Job Description
About the Role

This is a founding engineering role at an early-stage legaltech startup combining AI agents with licensed attorneys to transform how commercial contracts are reviewed, negotiated, and drafted. You'll build core product features from the ground up, working side-by-side with attorneys and AI engineers to turn complex legal workflows into reliable, production-grade software. As one of the first engineers, you'll set the engineering culture and standards for everyone who comes after you.
What You'll Do
  • Build and own core product features across the full stack - from data models to the interfaces attorneys and clients use daily.
  • Partner closely with AI engineers and attorneys to translate legal workflows and review playbooks into production-ready software.
  • Make pragmatic architecture and tooling decisions that balance speed today with maintainability tomorrow.
  • Write reliable, production-quality code and take complete ownership of what you ship.
  • Help define engineering culture, standards, and hiring practices as the team scales.
  • Move work across the finish line with a customer-first mindset - urgency and quality both matter here.
What We're Looking For
  • 1-3 years of experience building and shipping production software, ideally at an early-stage company or as a founder.
  • Strong full-stack capability: TypeScript/React on the front end, a modern backend stack, and relational databases.
  • Hands-on experience building with AI/LLMs, either professionally or in personal projects.
  • Proven track record of owning features end-to-end - from conception through production deployment.
  • Comfort making pragmatic engineering trade-offs and architecture decisions under time pressure.
  • Thrives in fast-moving, high-ownership environments with minimal process and real ambiguity.
  • Strong product instincts and an entrepreneurial, ownership-oriented mindset.
  • Experience working directly with domain experts to translate complex workflows into software is a plus.
  • Familiarity with legaltech, contract management, or document processing is a plus.
  • Experience with modern DevOps, CI/CD, and production monitoring practices is a plus.
Compensation & Benefits

Salary: $140,000 - $180,000 annually. Equity offered as part of a founding team package. Visa sponsorship is not available.
Location

This is a full-time, on-site role based in San Francisco, California. In-person presence is expected.

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