Founding Engineer, Agents

Clera
San Francisco, CA
On-site

Who this role is best for

Candidates with startup experience in AI and systems design will find this agent-focused role in San Francisco. The job emphasizes long-term reliability and evaluation of AI systems, requiring a collaborative mindset and a track record of impactful work.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with AI startup experience and a focus on building reliable systems
    — “At least 1 to 2 years of experience at a fast-growing or AI-focused startup.”
  • Individuals with a background in memory systems or long-running execution architectures
    — “Experience building agent memory, long-running execution, or multi-step reasoning systems that maintain goals over time.”
  • Engineers who have shipped software at scale or contributed to research others use
    — “A record of either publishing research that others build on or shipping software at meaningful scale.”

Things to consider

  • The role requires on-site presence in San Francisco five days per week.
    — “On-site in San Francisco, California, five days per week.”
  • Candidates must be prepared for a high-impact, founding-level role with equity.
    — “Meaningful founding equity is offered.”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in long-term system reliability and autonomous operation.
    — “Build agents that can work toward a goal over multiple weeks with minimal or no human intervention.”
  • Emphasize contributions to evaluation frameworks that measure performance against human baselines.
    — “Develop evaluation frameworks to determine whether agents outperform human task baselines.”
  • Showcase memory system design and improvements in agent learning and retention.
    — “Design memory systems that help agents retain knowledge and improve as they work.”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Individual

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • development of autonomous AI agents
  • memory systems
  • evaluation frameworks
Typical background
1-2 years of experience at a fast-growing or AI-focused startupbackground in competitive math, programming, debate, games, founding

Skills & requirements

Required

Autonomous AI AgentsMemory SystemsEvaluation FrameworksMulti-step Reasoning Systems

Preferred

Competitive MathProgrammingDebateFounding

Stack & domain

PythonMatlabNPSSComputational Fluid DynamicsTeamworkProblem-solvingAIAutonomous AgentsMemory Systems

About the role

Original posting from Clera via Ashby

ABOUT THE ROLE

Build autonomous AI agents designed to perform complex computer-based work reliably over extended periods. You will own core agent systems, from execution and memory to evaluation, helping advance agents from human-reviewed runs toward dependable autonomous operation.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

  • Build agents that can work toward a goal over multiple weeks with minimal or no human intervention.
  • Design memory systems that help agents retain knowledge and improve as they work.
  • Develop evaluation frameworks to determine whether agents outperform human task baselines.
  • Improve agent reliability and reduce the need for human review of each run.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

  • Hands-on experience building production agents that people rely on, with a clear understanding of their failure modes.
  • Experience building agent memory, long-running execution, or multi-step reasoning systems that maintain goals over time.
  • Experience creating evaluation frameworks that inform real decisions and measure performance against human-level baselines.
  • At least 1 to 2 years of experience at a fast-growing or AI-focused startup.
  • A record of either publishing research that others build on or shipping software at meaningful scale.
  • Strong engineering fundamentals; experience designing agent architectures is a plus.
  • Background in competitive math, programming, debate, games, founding, or an equivalent high-achievement path is valued.
  • Collaborative approach and conviction in the potential of AI agents.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

$200,000 to $300,000 annual base salary, with up to $350,000 for exceptional candidates. Meaningful founding equity is offered. Visa sponsorship is available.

LOCATION

On-site in San Francisco, California, five days per week.

Source: Clera careers (Ashby)

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