# Founding AI Engineer

Source: https://realanalystjobs.com/job/founding-ai-engineer-clera-115df4d0
Founding AI Engineer at Clera, an on-site role based in San Francisco, California, USA. Pay stated in the posting: $120,000 to $180,000 per year. Posted on 1 August 2026, read from Clera's own careers page (Ashby), which RealAnalystJobs re-checks daily and removes the role when it closes. The posting says the employer will not sponsor a visa for this role.

Updated 15 November 2026.

## Key facts

- Company: [Clera](https://realanalystjobs.com/companies/clera)
- Location: San Francisco, California, USA
- Work mode: On-site
- Pay stated in the posting: $120,000 to $180,000 per year
- Posted: Aug 1, 2026
- Employment type: Full time
- Source: Clera's careers page (Ashby), re-checked daily

## Visa sponsorship

The posting says the employer will not sponsor a visa for this role.

## About this role

About the Role

This is a founding engineering role at a seed-stage AI startup building the intelligence layer for the construction industry. The company's platform transforms messy blueprints, permits, and construction documents into actionable insights - accelerating cost estimation and permitting workflows that directly impact housing, hospitals, and schools.

As a Founding AI Engineer , you'll be one of the earliest technical hires, working hands-on with state-of-the-art computer vision, LLMs, and multimodal AI to prototype and ship production systems on real-world, noisy construction documents. The focus is squarely on the intelligence layer - modeling, data pipelines, and inference - not the application UI.

This is a full-time, in-office role based in San Francisco, CA. Candidates must be based in SF or willing to relocate. US work authorization is required; visa sponsorship is not available.

What You'll Do

• Apply state-of-the-art computer vision, LLM, and multimodal AI techniques to real-world construction documents (blueprints, schedules, specs).

• Rapidly prototype models and iterate based on user feedback and real production data.

• Build and deploy end-to-end AI systems that operate reliably on noisy, heterogeneous inputs.

• Own the intelligence layer: modeling, data pipelines, and inference infrastructure.

• Collaborate closely with product and users to surface and prioritize high-impact problems.

• Embrace practical engineering work - data labeling, ETL, deployment - as part of a small, high-trust team.

• Communicate progress, tradeoffs, and results clearly and empathetically across the team.

What We're Looking For

Must-haves:

• Demonstrated experience applying computer vision and/or multimodal AI in production - on real-world, messy data (documents, images, mixed modalities).

• 0-to-1 builder mindset : you've launched an AI system into production or built the core of a new product from scratch.

• Hands-on experience with LLMs and modern CV/multimodal model tooling and techniques.

• Comfort iterating quickly and improving prototypes directly from user feedback.

• Strong communication skills - honest, empathetic, and transparent with teammates and stakeholders.

• Willingness to handle the full spectrum of startup engineering tasks (no task is too small).

• Based in San Francisco or willing to relocate; US work authorization required.

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience building something that shipped to real users or paying customers.

• Background or domain knowledge in construction, AEC (architecture/engineering/construction), or related industries.

• Experience at an early-stage startup or founding team environment.

All experience levels are welcome, including recent graduates with strong production ML portfolios.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $120,000 - $180,000 per year, depending on experience

• Equity participation as a founding team member

• Opportunity to shape the technical direction of an AI product from the ground up

Location

• San Francisco, CA - full-time in-office

• Relocation-ready candidates strongly encouraged to apply

• US work authorization required; visa sponsorship is not available

Description from Clera's public careers feed, reproduced so you can read the role here. Apply on the company's own site; Real Analyst Jobs never submits anything for you.

## How to apply

Open [this role on Real Analyst Jobs](https://realanalystjobs.com/job/founding-ai-engineer-clera-115df4d0) and use Apply now there to reach the employer's application. The listing is re-checked against Clera's careers page daily and removed when it closes.

## Clera

Analyst roles on Real Analyst Jobs. [More roles at Clera](https://realanalystjobs.com/companies/clera)

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## Sources and links

- [This role on Real Analyst Jobs](https://realanalystjobs.com/job/founding-ai-engineer-clera-115df4d0)
- [Clera on Real Analyst Jobs](https://realanalystjobs.com/companies/clera)
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