CTO / Technical Co-Founder

Clera Labs, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 225,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

No visa sponsorship

6 days in-person

Job summary

Noetic, a stealth-stage AI company, seeks a CTO co-founder to own the technical vision from day one. You will architect core product systems, ship early production deployments, and build the engineering team in a hands-on, fast-moving environment.

Based in San Francisco and fully in-person, this role leads engineering culture, balances speed and quality, and collaborates closely with the CEO and Chief AI Officer to accelerate the company’s growth.

Qualifications

• 2–8 years of hands-on experience shipping products with modern AI models and tooling.
• Strong technical foundation with the ability to architect systems from scratch.
• AI-native builder mindset; you ship with LLMs, embeddings, and related technologies.

Responsibilities

• Design and own the technical architecture for core product systems.
• Build and deploy the first production systems using modern AI models and tooling.
• Hire and lead the initial engineering team, setting technical culture and standards.
• Drive shipping velocity and balance speed, quality, and scope.
• Partner with CEO and Chief AI Officer on strategy and execution.

Skills

AI systems design

System architecture

LLMs & embeddings

Leadership & teamwork

Job description

You'll be the CTO and fourth co-founder at Noetic, a stealth, seed-stage AI company building tools to put superintelligence into the hands of every farmer. You'll own the technical vision and execution from day one—from system architecture and first production deployments to building the engineering team and setting the pace of shipping. This is a hands-on role where your decisions directly shape how the company scales.

What You'll Do

• Design and own the technical architecture for core product systems.
• Build and deploy the first production systems using modern AI models and tooling.
• Hire and lead the initial engineering team, setting technical culture and standards.
• Drive shipping velocity and make trade-offs between speed, quality, and scope.
• Partner closely with Ben (CEO) and Matt Mugen (Chief AI Officer) on strategy and execution.

What We're Looking For

• 2–8 years of hands-on experience shipping products with modern AI models and tooling.
• Strong technical foundation with the ability to architect systems from scratch.
• AI-native builder mindset; you ship with LLMs, embeddings, and related technologies as part of your daily work.
• Deep conviction in the mission to democratize AI for agriculture.
• Collaborative approach to working with a founding team in a high-ambiguity, fast-moving environment.
• Varied backgrounds welcome; what matters is your track record of building and your alignment with the vision, not pedigree.

Compensation & Benefits

• $250,000 base salary
• 5% equity
• No visa sponsorship

Location

San Francisco, fully in-person, six days a week. Relocation support available.