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AI Engineer

$180k to $220k

San FranciscoFull-timePosted Oct 19, 2026

Against the San Francisco typical range

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE

Join the founding engineering team at an early-stage AI company developing a foundational model from scratch with a novel architecture, rather than fine-tuning existing models. This hands-on role contributes to core model development as well as practical, production-ready LLM systems.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

  • Build and improve foundational models across training, reinforcement learning, and model architecture.
  • Develop and ship production LLM applications, including agents, retrieval-augmented generation pipelines, or model-serving systems.
  • Create evaluations, benchmarks, and quality monitoring for LLM systems.
  • Contribute as a hands-on individual engineer across model development and application work.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

  • One to five years of professional engineering experience.
  • Practical experience building foundational models across the model-building pipeline, including training, reinforcement learning, and architecture.
  • A track record of building and shipping production LLM applications.
  • Strong Python skills and hands-on experience with an ML framework such as PyTorch.
  • Experience evaluating LLM systems through evaluations, benchmarks, or quality monitoring.
  • Interest in a ground-level individual contributor role.

COMPENSATION

& BENEFITS Base salary range: $180,000 to $220,000 USD annually. LOCATION On-site in San Francisco, California. Candidates should be based in the San Francisco Bay Area or willing to work on-site in San Francisco.

Description copied from Clera's careers page. Read the full posting before you apply.

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