Founding AI Engineer

Clera; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Significant founding equity

Opportunity to shape technical direction

Job summary

Clera, a startup in San Francisco, is seeking a Founding AI Engineer to shape the architecture and direction of their AI systems. You will work on novel social graphs and design matching systems that enhance the user experience.

The ideal candidate will have hands-on AI/ML experience in production environments, exceptional problem-solving skills, and the ability to work in a fast-paced startup. This is a full-time, on-site role offering an annual salary of $150,000 – $200,000 as well as significant founding equity.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building AI/ML systems in production (0–4+ years).
• Experience processing and modeling at scale (millions of data points).
• Ability to design scalable infrastructure supporting complex AI workloads.

Responsibilities

• Build novel social graph grounded in real-world interaction data.
• Design and improve matching systems that group users into cohorts.
• Integrate third-party APIs and messaging services into workflows.

Skills

AI/ML systems in production

Collaborative filtering

Graph embeddings

Reinforcement learning

Multi-channel messaging APIs

Cross-functional communication

Job description

About the Role

Join the core team of an early-stage consumer social startup redefining how young people make friends in real life. The company runs AI-powered small group hangouts every week, matching people into compatible groups and handling everything end-to-end — onboarding, profiling, matching, logistics, reminders, and follow-ups — through a suite of AI agents. Thousands of users connect every month, and the platform is rapidly expanding across university campuses across the US.

As a Founding AI Engineer, you will be one of the earliest technical hires, shaping the architecture and direction of the AI systems that power the entire product.

What You’ll Do

AI Matching & Social Graphs

• Build a novel social graph grounded in real-world interaction data, processing millions of data points

• Design and improve matching systems that group users into highly compatible cohorts

• Develop collaborative filtering, graph embeddings, and ranking systems

• Apply reinforcement learning from real-world outcomes to continuously improve personalization

• Discover patterns and signals that lead to meaningful, lasting friendships

Communication Workflows & AI Agent Orchestration

• Design and build agent experiences across channels where users already are (Instagram, iMessage, WhatsApp, TikTok)

• Orchestrate a multi-agent system handling the full user lifecycle from onboarding to follow-up

• Integrate third-party APIs and messaging services into reliable, scalable workflows

• Contribute to human-AI interaction design to make agent experiences feel natural and effortless

What We’re Looking For

• Required: Hands‑on experience building AI/ML systems in production (0–4+ years), ideally in recommender systems, matching, or social graph domains

• Experience processing and modeling at scale (millions of data points)

• Proficiency in collaborative filtering, graph embeddings, and ranking systems

• Experience with reinforcement learning applied to real-world personalization

• Familiarity with multi-channel messaging APIs and AI agent frameworks

• Ability to design scalable infrastructure supporting complex AI workloads

• Strong cross‑functional communication skills; comfortable working alongside product, design, and data science

• Founding mindset: you ship fast, own problems end‑to‑end, and thrive in ambiguity

Note: Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States without visa sponsorship.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $150,000 – $200,000 USD annually

• Significant founding equity

• Opportunity to shape the technical direction of a fast‑growing consumer AI company

Location

This is a full‑time, on‑site role based in San Francisco, California. The team works in‑person together.