Founding Product Engineer

Clera

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

Qualifications

  • 1 to 3 years of experience in production software development, preferably in a startup setting.
  • Strong full-stack development skills, especially in TypeScript and React.
  • Hands-on experience with AI and LLMs in professional or personal projects.
  • Proven experience owning features from conception to production.
  • Ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with minimal structure.
  • Excellent engineering judgment and communication skills, with high personal standards.
  • Entrepreneurial mindset with strong product instincts; proactive problem-solver.

Responsibilities

  • Build and maintain core product features across the entire tech stack.
  • Collaborate with AI engineers and attorneys to implement legal workflows into software.
  • Make architectural and tooling decisions balancing immediate needs with long-term goals.
  • Write clean, maintainable code and ensure ownership of deployed features.
  • Define the engineering culture and practices during team growth.
  • Work closely with legal experts to translate their insights into software solutions.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to shape engineering standards and culture from the ground up.
  • Direct impact on product development for real customers.
  • High-ownership role with significant responsibilities and challenges.
  • Work in a dynamic, early-stage startup environment.
Full Job Description
About the Role

This is a founding engineering role at a seed-stage legaltech startup building AI-native contract review and negotiation software. You will work directly alongside attorneys and AI engineers to shape the core product from scratch, setting the engineering culture and standards for everyone who follows. The work is high-ownership and high-impact: real customers depend on what you ship every day.
What You'll Do
  • Build and own core product features across the full stack, from data models and backend systems to the interfaces attorneys and clients use daily.
  • Partner with AI engineers and attorneys to translate legal workflows and review playbooks into reliable, production-grade software.
  • Make pragmatic architecture and tooling decisions that balance speed now with long-term maintainability.
  • Write clean, maintainable code and take complete ownership of what you ship in production.
  • Help define engineering culture, standards, and hiring practices as the team scales.
  • Collaborate directly with domain experts to turn real legal judgment into software that ships fast and holds a high bar.
What We're Looking For
  • 1 to 3 years of experience building and shipping production software, ideally at an early-stage company or as a founder.
  • Strong full-stack ability: TypeScript and React on the front end, a modern backend stack, and relational databases.
  • Hands-on experience building with AI and LLMs, whether professionally or in personal projects.
  • A track record of owning features end-to-end, from conception through production deployment.
  • Comfort with ambiguity and a proven ability to thrive in fast-moving, high-ownership environments with minimal process.
  • Sound engineering judgment, strong communication skills, and a high bar for your own work.
  • Product instincts and an entrepreneurial, owner-oriented mindset; you move with urgency and find another way when initial approaches fail.
  • Experience in legaltech, contract management, or document processing is a plus, as is experience with DevOps, CI/CD, and production monitoring.
Compensation & Benefits

Salary range: $140,000 to $180,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.
Location

This is a full-time, on-site role based in San Francisco, California. In-person attendance six days per week is expected.

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