Clera
Founding Forward Deployed Engineer
- Compensation
- From $130K / yr
- From job posting
- Location
- New York City, NY, US
- Arrangement
- On-site
- Employment type
- Full-time
- Posted
- 30 September 2026 (today)
Checked todayApplications go to the employer, never to RoleSprint
About this role
ABOUT THE ROLE
This is a founding-level, customer-facing engineering role at a Y Combinator-backed govtech startup building AI-powered tools to help law enforcement and prosecutors manage evidence overload. You will sit at the intersection of product and field operations, spending significant time with users to solve their real-world problems directly and translating those insights into the product roadmap. It is a high-autonomy, high-impact position on an intentionally small team.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Work directly with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors nationwide to understand their evidence management challenges.
- Build immediate, practical solutions for user problems, including one-off analyses and custom integrations, even when they do not scale.
- Travel 25 to 75% of the time to spend in-person time with customers and gather frontline insights.
- Convert customer feedback into pull requests and clear technical specifications that shape the product roadmap.
- Operate across the full stack in a fast-moving, early-stage environment where ambiguity and shifting priorities are routine.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
- 3 or more years of software engineering experience building and delivering production systems.
- Demonstrated ability to work directly with end users, translate their needs into technical solutions, and ship those solutions.
- Experience in early-stage or fast-paced environments where requirements shift rapidly and autonomy is expected.
- Track record at a strong engineering organization, ideally paired with startup experience.
- Comfort building things that solve problems now, not just things designed to scale infinitely.
- Genuine mission-driven mindset and enthusiasm for contributing to public safety and government effectiveness.
- Willingness to travel extensively and engage deeply with field users.
- Openness to supporting an FBI background check and CJIS clearance process.
- Background in regulated or sensitive domains such as government, defense, intelligence, or public sector technology is a strong plus.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Base salary between $130,000 and $215,000 USD annually, plus meaningful founding-level equity and performance-based bonuses. Visa sponsorship is available.
LOCATION
Primary location is New York City, with a secondary presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hybrid work arrangement. Remote with regular travel may be considered for exceptional candidates.
Work location
- New York City, NY, US
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About this listing
Published on Ashby under the board identifier Clera, which is the name the employer’s own job board carries. RoleSprint has not verified the company’s registered or trading name, so it is shown exactly as published rather than tidied up.
RoleSprint is not the employer and not a recruiter. Applications are made on the employer’s own site and never reach us; what RoleSprint does is help you decide whether a role is worth your time and prepare for it if it is.
Published 30 September 2026, last checked today. A posting stops being advertised here 90 days after the employer published it, and one the employer takes down is marked closed rather than quietly removed.