Senior Backend/Full Stack Engineer

Clera
San Francisco, CA
On-site

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for candidates with experience in distributed systems and AI integration who can operate in San Francisco and lead end-to-end engineering projects.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with expertise in building scalable backend systems and experience in AI integration
    — “building distributed messaging infrastructure that enables AI agents to work across popular communication platforms”
  • Individuals who have independently designed and maintained complex backend services
    — “Ability to independently design, build, deploy, and maintain complex systems”
  • Professionals fluent in Mandarin and comfortable with TypeScript and cloud-native technologies
    — “Fluency in Mandarin. Strong TypeScript and Node.js skills, plus experience with another backend language such as Go, Rust, or Swift.”

Things to consider

  • On-site presence in San Francisco is required, limiting remote flexibility
    — “On-site in San Francisco, California.”
  • The role involves shaping APIs and internal platforms, requiring strong architectural vision
    — “own complex systems from architecture through production, shaping the APIs and internal platforms”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience with service reliability and fault tolerance in your resume and interviews
    — “Address distributed systems challenges involving reliability, concurrency, fault tolerance, and message delivery”
  • Demonstrate your ability to evaluate AI-generated code and its operational impact
    — “Ability to critically evaluate AI-generated code”
  • Showcase your fluency in Mandarin and its relevance to your technical contributions
    — “Fluency in Mandarin”
  • Emphasize hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes in your application materials
    — “Hands-on experience with PostgreSQL, Redis or other NoSQL systems, AWS, Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure”
  • Demonstrate your capacity to own projects end to end, including deployment and operations
    — “Own projects end to end, from defining the problem and designing the architecture through deployment and ongoing operation”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Team

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

What success looks like

  • Design and operate highly available backend services
  • Build intuitive APIs, SDKs, and developer tools
  • Address distributed systems challenges
  • Contribute across backend services, dashboards, internal tools, and infrastructure
Typical background
Professional software engineering experienceExperience building and operating production backend systems

Skills & requirements

Required

TypeScriptNode.jsGoRustSwiftDistributed SystemsPostgreSQLRedisAWSKubernetesCloud InfrastructureService ReliabilityObservabilityIncident ResponsePerformance OptimizationEngineering Judgment

Preferred

Mandarin

Stack & domain

TypeScriptNode.jsGoRustSwiftPostgreSQLRedisAWSKubernetesCloud InfrastructureMandarinLeadershipCommunicationProblem-solvingTeamworkDistributed SystemsAINetworkingDatabasesAPI Design

About the role

Original posting from Clera via Ashby

ABOUT THE ROLE

Join an engineering team building distributed messaging infrastructure that enables AI agents to work across popular communication platforms. You will own complex systems from architecture through production, shaping the APIs and internal platforms that make the infrastructure reliable and easy to use.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

  • Design and operate highly available backend services for large-scale, real-time messaging workloads.
  • Own projects end to end, from defining the problem and designing the architecture through deployment and ongoing operation.
  • Build intuitive APIs, SDKs, and developer tools with thoughtful abstractions.
  • Address distributed systems challenges involving reliability, concurrency, fault tolerance, and message delivery.
  • Contribute across backend services, dashboards, internal tools, and infrastructure as needed.
  • Make pragmatic technical decisions that balance engineering quality with delivery speed.
  • Use AI coding agents effectively while reviewing generated code and understanding its operational impact.
  • Take part in architecture discussions, code reviews, and incident analysis.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

  • At least 3 years of professional software engineering experience, including substantial experience building and operating production backend systems.
  • Strong TypeScript and Node.js skills, plus experience with another backend language such as Go, Rust, or Swift.
  • Fluency in Mandarin.
  • Solid knowledge of distributed systems, concurrency, networking, databases, and API design.
  • Hands-on experience with PostgreSQL, Redis or other NoSQL systems, AWS, Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure.
  • Ability to independently design, build, deploy, and maintain complex systems, with experience in service reliability, observability, incident response, and performance optimization.
  • Strong engineering judgment, including the ability to critically evaluate AI-generated code.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

$100,000 to $200,000 base salary annually, plus equity. H-1B sponsorship, OPT, and CPT support are available.

LOCATION

On-site in San Francisco, California.

Source: Clera careers (Ashby)

Similar roles

More roles at Clera