Founding Engineer, Agents
Clera · San Francisco · $200,000–$300,000 (stated in the posting)
About the Role
Join an early-stage AI company as a Founding Engineer building autonomous agents for complex computer-based work. You will own core systems that help agents execute reliably over extended periods, learn from accumulated knowledge, and demonstrate performance against human-level benchmarks.
What You'll Do
Build agents that pursue goals over weeks with minimal or no human intervention.
Design memory systems that help agents retain and use knowledge to improve over time.
Develop evaluation frameworks to determine whether agents outperform people on specific tasks.
Improve agent reliability and reduce the need for human review of individual runs.
What We're Looking For
Hands-on experience building production agents that people rely on, with a clear understanding of their failure modes.
Experience with agent memory, long-running execution, multi-step reasoning, and maintaining goal coherence over time.
A track record of building evaluation systems that inform real decisions, including comparisons against human-level baselines.
At least 1 to 2 years at a fast-growing or AI-focused startup, and evidence of substantive engineering work.
Published research that others build on, or software shipped at meaningful scale.
Strong engineering fundamentals and evidence of exceptional problem-solving, such as competitive programming, founding experience, or an equivalent credential.
Agent architecture experience is a plus. A collaborative, kind approach to working through challenging problems is valued.
Compensation & Benefits
$200,000 to $300,000 annual base salary, with up to $350,000 for exceptional candidates. Meaningful founding equity is available. Visa sponsorship is available.
Location
On-site, five days a week in San Francisco, California, United States.
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