Founding Engineer (Full-Stack/AI)

Summary

Clera is seeking a founding engineer to build autonomous freight forwarding technology using full-stack development and AI/LLM integration. The role requires hands-on experience with AI experimentation and a strong background in backend and cloud environments.

About the Role

This is an early engineering hire at a seed-stage AI logistics startup, joining a small, high-ownership team building technology to make global freight forwarding operations autonomous. You'll shape the core product and technical direction from the ground up — combining full-stack engineering, AI experimentation, and product thinking in equal measure.

What You'll Do

  • Own and personally design, build, and maintain the most critical parts of the product.

  • Build reliable full-stack features that make users radically more efficient in their day-to-day workflows.

  • Evaluate, benchmark, and fine-tune AI capabilities to maximise domain accuracy and contextual performance.

  • Continuously experiment with new model releases, frameworks, and agentic techniques in production.

  • Ship promising approaches quickly and iterate based on data and user feedback.

  • Navigate and improve large-scale, complex legacy codebases to add structure and scalability.

  • Engineer infrastructure and automation to support heavy data and AI workloads.

  • Collaborate closely with founders and teammates as a hands-on, high-ownership contributor.

What We're Looking For

  • Founder-level drive, adaptability, extreme ownership, and a results-oriented, autonomous work style.

  • Hands-on AI/ML/LLM experience is essential — including benchmarking, fine-tuning, integrating LLMs, and running experiments in production.

  • Strong full-stack engineering ability with fluency across backend and cloud environments.

  • Fluent in Python; familiarity with Go is a strong plus.

  • Comfort engineering for scale, automating systems, and working with complex legacy codebases.

  • Strong CS fundamentals, intellectual humility, and exceptional self-discipline.

  • 2–3 years of professional experience preferred, though strong project track records are equally welcome.

  • Prior startup or entrepreneurial experience is a plus.

  • Enthusiasm for working on-site in Munich.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary range: €60,000 – €90,000 annually. Early employees are eligible for meaningful equity participation (options up to ~1.5%). Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Location

On-site in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

See also

Full-Stack jobs by country — openings, pay and top skills →

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