Founding Forward Deployed Engineer

Clera; United States; On-site; USD 110,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Founding equity

High ownership role

On-site role in Austin

Job summary

Clera seeks a founding-level, customer-facing engineer to own US deployments—from onboarding through ongoing support. You will be the primary technical contact for enterprise clients, coordinating deployments, integrating with customers' systems, and guiding post-launch success.

Based in Austin, TX or willing to relocate, you will travel to sites as needed, gather customer feedback, and help shape Clera's US presence.

Qualifications

• 0–3 years in customer-facing deployments, field engineering or solutions engineering.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management for technical customer relationships.
• Experience in end-to-end software deployments and post-deployment support.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end technical deployments for US enterprise customers from onboarding to post-launch support.
• Serve as primary technical contact for customers, managing relationships and deployment success.
• Integrate the platform with customers' job management systems, GPS tools, and workflows.
• Troubleshoot issues in the field, acting as a bridge to the core engineering team.
• Travel to customer sites as needed for hands-on deployments.
• Surface feedback to inform the product roadmap and help shape the US presence.
• Help shape the forward deployed function as the company scales in the US.

Skills

Customer deployments

Stakeholder management

End-to-end deployments

Field engineering

Technical liaison

Job description

About the Role

A fast-growing, Y Combinator-backed AI company operating in the industrial logistics and fleet management space is hiring its first technical hire on the ground in the US . This is a founding-level, customer-facing engineering role where you will own the full technical success of US customers - from initial deployment through ongoing support.

What You'll Do

• Own end-to-end technical deployments for US enterprise customers, from onboarding through post-launch support
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for customers, managing stakeholder relationships and ensuring deployment success
• Integrate the platform with customers' existing job management systems, GPS tools, and operational workflows
• Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues in the field, acting as the bridge between customers and the core engineering team
• Travel to customer sites as needed to support hands-on deployments
• Surface product feedback and customer insights to inform the roadmap
• Help shape the forward deployed function from the ground up as the company scales its US presence

What We're Looking For

Required:

• 0-3 years of hands-on experience in customer-facing deployments, field engineering, or solutions engineering roles
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills - you're comfortable owning customer relationships at a technical level
• Proven ability to manage end-to-end software deployments and provide post-deployment support for enterprise customers
• Based in Austin, TX or willing to relocate to Austin
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without employer visa sponsorship

Nice to Have:

• Willingness to travel to customer sites to support on-site deployments
• Ownership mindset with the ability to thrive in an ambiguous, fast-paced early-stage startup environment
• Background in logistics, fleet management, or industrial operations technology

Compensation & Benefits

Salary: $110,000 - $135,000 USD annually

• Founding team member - early equity opportunity
• High-impact, high-ownership role at a well-funded, rapidly growing startup

Location

• Austin, TX - on-site
• Travel to customer sites expected as needed
• Visa sponsorship is not available for this role