AI is changing how software gets built. We're looking for a Staff AI Engineer to work out which changes matter for clearer.io, prove them with working code, and help our teams ship them. You'll report to our CTO and help make eCommerce clearer.
your impactYou'll spot which developments in agentic AI, commerce protocols and the Shopify ecosystem can help our merchants grow. Then you'll prove them with working software and help our teams turn them into product. You'll start with our cloud intelligence layer, and be clearer.io's voice in the ecosystem at events like Shopify DotDev.
This is a senior individual contributor role, reporting to the CTO. You'll work closely with product leadership, our engineering teams in the UK and Vietnam, and our Applied AI lead.
We're fully remote. You'll be based in Toronto (close to the Shopify ecosystem), the UK or Ireland. No regular office days, but we get together when it helps.
what you'll do- Assess new agent capabilities, protocols, models and infrastructure (including MCP, A2A, UCP and ACP), and recommend whether we adopt, experiment, monitor or skip each one, so we invest where merchants get real value.
- Review how AI agents work with our platform, starting with the cloud intelligence layer: discovery, merchant context, identity and permissions, approved actions, failures and evaluation.
- Build working prototypes and reference code that show what works with our product, what breaks, and what production would need.
- Carry the best ideas into the product. Every experiment has a product or engineering partner from day one, and you help build it or hand it over cleanly.
- Represent clearer.io at Shopify DotDev and similar events, build relationships with platform teams, and turn what you learn into proposals that move our product forward.
- Weigh up opportunities for merchant agents (helping merchants run their business) and shopper agents (helping shoppers discover and buy), with clear evidence for each.
- Explain new tech in plain language through demos, design reviews, pairing and practical guidance, and share findings with our Applied AI lead so every team builds better with AI.
- Make calls that shape the roadmap or save wasted effort, including when to stop an experiment.
what you'll bring- Very strong experience in software engineering, designing, building and running cloud software, APIs and integrations that customers use.
- Experience with the Shopify platform and ecosystem
- eCommerce experience
- Production AI experience. You can talk us through an agent or AI app you shipped, how you evaluated it, and what changed once real users arrived.
- Hands-on skills. You still write and review code, and can build a small working integration yourself.
- Sound architectural judgement. You can explain a big design decision, the options you weighed and the trade-offs you accepted.
- A working grasp of how agent and commerce protocols fit together, and when a simple API call is the better choice. You don't need every protocol. You do need to read an unfamiliar spec, test an assumption and make a sound call.
- Curiosity that's current. You've recently tested something new and formed a clear view on where it helps, including deciding not to use it.
- A track record of influence beyond one team: setting architectural direction, establishing good patterns, and bringing engineers and product leaders with you.
- Confidence presenting and building relationships externally, and experience working with teams across time zones.
- eCommerce experience
- A degree in Computer Science, Engineering or similar
Don't tick every box? Apply anyway. We hire for potential and mindset as much as experience - if this role excites you, we want to hear from you.
clear benefitsEveryone, everywhere
- Your birthday off - a full paid day, just for you, every year
- Give Back Day - a paid day each year to volunteer for a cause you care about
- Bonusly peer recognition - real-time shout-outs tied to our values, with points that convert to real rewards
- Clearer Together - each year, team members who live our values win a fully funded 5-night trip to one of our global offices (Sydney, Berlin, Leicester, Irvine or Ho Chi Minh City)
- Stopover - travelling near one of our offices? Once a year we'll fund a day with the local team
Canada
- 10 days of PTO, plus 10 floating holidays per year, and 15 days of paid holidays, including a year-end break from Christmas Day through New Year's Day
- Mandatory government-run programs: Employer Health Tax, Employment Insurance, and Canada Pension Plan
- Manulife insurance starting in your first day
- Remote working
If you believe eCommerce growth should be simpler, smarter and clearer - we'd love to hear from you. Apply now.
$160,000 - $190,000 a year
