Founding Product Engineer at Clera in New York City, NY

ABOUT THE ROLE We're building an AI-native operating system that helps nurse practitioners launch and run independent clinical practices — and we're looking for a Founding Product Engineer to own and shape the clinician-facing product experience. This is a high-impact, early-team role at a seed-stage healthtech company where you'll work directly with founders, designers, and clinicians to turn complex clinical workflows into polished, reliable software that improves care delivery. You'll be a defining voice in engineering culture, product direction, and technical architecture — not just an executor of finished specs. If you thrive at the intersection of strong engineering craft and genuine product ownership, this role is for you. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own major clinician-facing workflows end-to-end — from whiteboard through implementation, testing, rollout, and iteration. - Collaborate closely with designers, founders, and clinicians to define product behavior rather than waiting for finished specs. - Drive frontend architecture and technical direction across provider and patient applications. - Influence APIs, data models, and overall system behavior while primarily owning the frontend. - Iterate quickly from rough concepts to production-quality experiences alongside a product designer. - Debug complex production issues spanning browsers, APIs, third-party integrations, and infrastructure. - Contribute to engineering culture through thoughtful code reviews, technical discussions, and pragmatic decision-making. - Leverage AI development tools as part of your workflow while maintaining full ownership of system design and production quality. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR Must-haves: - Demonstrated experience leading significant technical initiatives or owning major product areas. - Strong hands-on experience with React and Next.js (TypeScript familiarity expected). - Proven track record of owning user-facing features from concept through production. - Comfort collaborating across the frontend/backend boundary — including working with APIs and debugging backend behavior. - Experience working directly with designers, customers, or domain experts to shape product direction. - Experience delivering workflows in a fast-moving, early-stage startup environment. - Strong product intuition, engineering judgment, and debugging skills. - Willingness to commute to a Midtown Manhattan office 3 days per week (hybrid). - Comfort using AI-assisted development tools responsibly while maintaining ownership of what you build. Nice to haves: - Experience in healthcare, with FHIR, or other regulated software environments. - Prior experience as an early or founding engineer at a startup. - Experience building products used throughout the workday, where usability and workflow continuity matter as much as correctness. - Experience evolving or maintaining a design system. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS - Salary: $180,000 – $220,000 annually - Early-team equity commensurate with a founding engineer role - Visa sponsorship: Not available LOCATION This is a hybrid role based in New York City, NY. You'll be expected in the office 3 days per week. Remote-only candidates will not be considered for this position.