Founding Engineer
clera
San Francisco
Posted Jun 3, 2026
- Full-time
- Engineering
Job description
### About the Role A fast-moving, early-stage startup in San Francisco is looking for a **Founding Engineer** to join as one of the first technical hires. This is a rare opportunity to work directly with the founding team, own product decisions end-to-end, and help shape the technical direction of the company from day one. You'll wear multiple hats, move fast, and have a direct impact on what gets built and how. ### What You'll Do - Build and ship full-stack features across the product in a 0-to-1 environment - Own product decisions and contribute to roadmap prioritization alongside founders - Set early engineering standards, architecture decisions, and development practices - Collaborate cross-functionally in a small, high-trust team with minimal hierarchy - Iterate rapidly based on user feedback and business needs ### What We're Looking For **Required:** - 3–7 years of full-stack software development experience - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent from a top-20 CS program - Strong product sense and comfort owning decisions in a small, cross-functional team - Ability to thrive in ambiguous, fast-paced founding-team environments - Based in San Francisco, CA or willing to relocate - Must be legally eligible to work in the United States without visa sponsorship **Nice to Have:** - Experience at a FAANG-scale organization and/or an early-stage startup (a mix of both is ideal) - Prior experience shipping products in a 0-to-1 context ### Compensation & Benefits - **Salary:** $200,000 – $300,000 USD annually - Equity and additional benefits commensurate with a founding-team role ### Location This role is **on-site in San Francisco, CA**. Candidates must be based in San Francisco or willing to relocate. **Visa sponsorship is not available.**