Founding Product Engineer

Clera

$200K — $250K *
Enterprise Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of software engineering experience with ownership of full product areas in startup environments.
  • Deep backend expertise using FastAPI, Python, and MongoDB or similar technology stacks.
  • Full-stack capabilities with experience in versioned APIs and React/TypeScript UI development.
  • Proven ability to transform ambiguous problems into delivered features without dedicated product management.
  • Familiarity with B2B SaaS monetization strategies including pricing models and CPQ systems.
  • Experience integrating LLM-driven features and developing agent-based workflows.
  • High accuracy standards for financial logic and correctness.

Responsibilities

  • Scope, design, and iterate product modules in partnership with customers.
  • Develop architecture for AI systems across various interfaces and integrations.
  • Ensure features support LLM agent-driven interactions through server endpoints.
  • Migrate pricing logic to backend services for financial integrity.
  • Maintain a detailed typed pricing ontology using Pydantic models.
  • Conduct architectural reviews, establishing best practices for testing and deployment.
  • Mentor teammates and influence engineering culture within the organization.
  • Prioritize high-quality, secure code practices, especially in money-handling applications.

Benefits

  • Work in a founding-level role at a potentially groundbreaking AI-driven startup.
  • Opportunity to shape the engineering culture and product direction from the ground up.
  • Collaborate closely with customers and leadership for direct impact on product outcomes.
  • Engage in a unique AI-native software development lifecycle with innovative code practices.
Full Job Description
About the Role

This is a founding-level product engineering role at an early-stage B2B SaaS startup building an AI-driven pricing and monetization platform. You will own product modules end-to-end, work directly with customers and leadership, and help define the architecture and engineering culture of a small, high-output team. Financial fidelity and agentic AI systems are core to what gets built here.
What You'll Do
  • Scope, design, build, and iterate on entire product modules in close collaboration with customers.
  • Design and evolve architecture for agentic AI systems spanning conversational interfaces, web, terminal UIs, and vendor integrations.
  • Ensure features are drivable by LLM agents through MCP-style server endpoints and conversational interfaces.
  • Move pricing and business logic off the client into backend services to preserve financial correctness.
  • Extend and maintain a typed pricing ontology using Pydantic models covering SKUs, propositions, personas, pricing structures, and more.
  • Lead architectural reviews and set standards for testing, observability, deployment, and performance monitoring.
  • Mentor peers, shape product strategy, and help establish engineering culture and best practices.
  • Treat money-handling code as load-bearing and prioritize root-cause analysis for production issues.
  • Operate within an AI-native SDLC where agents assist with code generation and automated review gates.
What We're Looking For
  • 8+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated ownership of full product areas at startup or staff-level scope.
  • Deep backend expertise with production experience in FastAPI, Python, and MongoDB or a comparable stack.
  • Credible full-stack range: ability to design versioned APIs and ship clean React and TypeScript UIs independently.
  • Track record of taking ambiguous customer problems to shipped features without a dedicated PM.
  • Experience with B2B SaaS monetization concepts: pricing models, packaging, quoting, or CPQ.
  • Experience building or integrating LLM-driven features, agent workflows, or MCP-like tooling servers.
  • High standards for correctness, especially around financial logic.
  • Prior experience as an early employee or technical founder who shipped a 0-to-1 B2B product is a strong plus.
  • Familiarity with SOC 2, GDPR, or data residency constraints is a plus.
  • Must be authorized to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available.
Compensation & Benefits

Base salary: $200,000 to $250,000 USD annually. No visa sponsorship is available.
Location

On-site in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be based there or willing to relocate.

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