Product Engineer (Mid-Level) at Clera in San Francisco, CA

PRODUCT ENGINEER (MID-LEVEL) Location: San Francisco ABOUT THE ROLE A fast-growing, pre-seed-funded AI startup in the talent/recruiting space is looking for a mid-level Product Engineer to join a small, high-ownership team in San Francisco. You'll work directly with founders, product, and design to build reliable, user-focused products that integrate AI capabilities — contributing across the full stack from day one and helping shape technical direction during early-stage growth. WHAT YOU'LL DO • Own end-to-end product features from requirements scoping through production deployment. • Design APIs and data models; implement frontend and backend code. • Ship user-facing experiences that balance usability and performance, iterating based on feedback and metrics. • Integrate AI/LLM capabilities into product flows to make intelligence reliable and useful for end users. • Design and implement scalable backend services, data schemas, and operational tooling (CI/CD, monitoring, testing). • Collaborate directly with founders, product, and design to prioritize work and define success metrics. • Participate in architecture and roadmap discussions, making pragmatic tradeoffs appropriate for early-stage growth. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR Required: • 2–8 years of software engineering experience with a track record of shipping user-facing products. • Strong full-stack skills: TypeScript and React/Next.js on the frontend; Python or Node.js on the backend. • Experience with PostgreSQL and cloud platforms (AWS or GCP). • Practical, production experience integrating LLMs or other AI services (engineering focus, not research). • Comfort operating in small teams with limited process, high ambiguity, and context-switching across frontend, backend, and DevOps. • Ability to design and implement end-to-end features including API design, data models, and production deployment. Nice to Have: • Experience with API design, real-time systems, and scaling high-throughput applications. • Familiarity with AI-assisted development workflows (e.g., Cursor). • Experience building multi-tenant or enterprise-ready systems. • Background in regulated industries (healthcare, fintech, legal) or building internal tools for complex domains. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS • Salary: $150,000 – $300,000 USD annually (depending on experience). • Visa sponsorship is not available for this role. LOCATION This is an on-site role based in San Francisco, CA. Local candidates or those willing to relocate are strongly preferred.