Senior Software Engineer

Clearline; Kitchener; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

Clearline is seeking a senior engineer to lead architecture and end-to-end delivery on our AI operating system for dealership revenue. You will own critical workflows, design scalable APIs, and mentor teammates while shipping production systems that directly impact customer outcomes.

Join a fast-moving startup culture with high ownership, strong product judgment, and a focus on observability and performance.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience with ownership of production systems.
• Experience designing APIs and distributed workflows that scale and are reliable.
• Experience mentoring teammates and improving engineering standards.
• Strong product judgment and ability to make pragmatic tradeoffs.
• Clear communication with non-engineering stakeholders.
• Startup mindset with high ownership, velocity, and comfort with ambiguity.
• Hardware: MacBook Pro, monitor, and dev tooling.
• Mentorship & leadership access: direct collaboration with senior engineers and founders.

Responsibilities

• Lead system design across backend services, APIs, and frontend surfaces.
• Own critical workflows like call handling, lead routing, appointment booking, and follow-ups.
• Improve observability, testing, and performance across core paths.
• Mentor engineers through reviews, plans, and tradeoffs.
• Ship features with urgency while maintaining long-term architecture.
• Partner with product, design, and go-to-market teams to translate business priorities into shipped software.
• Monitor production behavior, debug issues quickly, and iterate based on customer impact.

Skills

API design

Distributed systems

Mentoring

Product judgment

Communication

Startup mindset

Ownership

Observability

Job description

Lead architecture and delivery of customer-critical features across Clearline's AI platform.

Clearline's engineering team is looking for a senior engineer who wants end-to-end ownership in a fast-moving startup. You will work directly on Clearline's AI operating system for dealership revenue - a platform that captures, routes, and converts every inbound and outbound customer interaction across sales and service.

You will drive technical decisions, mentor teammates, and ship production systems that directly impact customer outcomes. This role is for engineers who want both technical depth and product impact.

What You’ll Do

• Lead system design: Architect and deliver features across backend services, APIs, and front-end product surfaces.
• Own critical workflows: Build and improve high-reliability systems for call handling, lead routing, appointment booking, and follow-up automation.
• Raise engineering quality: Improve observability, testing, and performance across core product paths.
• Mentor and unblock: Guide engineers through design reviews, implementation plans, and technical tradeoffs.
• Ship with urgency: Balance short-cycle execution with strong long-term architecture decisions.
• Partner cross-functionally: Work with product, design, and go-to-market teams to turn business priorities into shipped software.
• Drive outcomes: Monitor production behavior, debug issues quickly, and iterate based on customer impact.

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, including ownership of production systems.
• Proven track record of designing APIs and distributed workflows that are reliable at scale.
• Experience mentoring teammates and improving engineering standards.
• Strong product judgment and ability to make pragmatic tradeoffs.
• Clear communication and comfort working directly with non-engineering stakeholders.
• Startup mindset: high ownership, high velocity, and comfort with ambiguity.
• Hardware: MacBook Pro, monitor, and all required dev tooling.
• Mentorship & leadership access: Direct collaboration with senior engineers and founders.
• Ownership: High-autonomy role with meaningful technical and product scope.

Why Clearline

You will not be maintaining low-impact internal tooling. You will build and run systems that dealerships rely on daily to capture revenue, reduce missed opportunities, and automate follow-ups. If you want to lead from the front and ship software that customers feel immediately, this role is built for that.