Staff Software Engineer

<h1 class="font-claude-response-title mt-1 text-text-100">Staff Software Engineer - Backend &amp; AI</h1> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal "><strong>Location:</strong> San Francisco, CA (In-office)</p> <hr class="border-border-300 my-4"> <h2 class="font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5">About Clerk Chat</h2> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal ">Clerk Chat's mission is to make every business conversational. We are achieving this by building the leading messaging application, integrating AI where it matters, and crafting our own telecom infrastructure. It's big and bold and needs spirited adventurers to join our growing team.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal ">We've built Clerk Chat organically into a profitable business over the last 2 years. We're a team that believes in achieving your highest potential but not at the expense of work-life balance. That's why we have flexible vacation time, healthy quarterly bonuses, and creative freedom at the forefront. We're Silicon Valley-based entrepreneurs who have sold companies, gone through HF0, and built teams at Lucasfilms, Samsung, Netflix, DocuSign, and Series B+ Startups.</p> <hr class="border-border-300 my-4"> <h2 class="font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5">What does a work environment look like at Clerk Chat?</h2> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal ">Clerk Chat is an in-office team based just three blocks south of the Embarcadero BART station, making it easy to commute and stay connected. We love being in the office five days a week because it fosters real-time collaboration, builds stronger relationships, and helps us move faster. This is an exciting time to join Clerk Chat. We're small enough that every individual has a big impact, but we're growing fast enough that there's tremendous room for career advancement.</p> <hr class="border-border-300 my-4"> <h2 class="font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5">Who You Are</h2> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal ">As a Staff Software Engineer focused on Backend &amp; AI, you are a technical leader who thrives at the intersection of systems engineering and applied AI. You're obsessed with building reliable, low-latency infrastructure and equally passionate about crafting prompts and orchestration layers that make AI feel magical. You understand that great AI products aren't just about the models—they're about the systems that surround them. You take ownership of complex problems, influence technical direction across teams, and elevate those around you.</p> <hr class="border-border-300 my-4"> <h2 class="font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5">What You Will Do</h2> <ul class="[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-2.5 pl-7"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Design and build backend systems</strong> that power real-time voice AI at scale, with a relentless focus on latency, reliability, and observability</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Develop and refine AI prompting strategies</strong> for conversational voice agents, optimizing for natural dialogue, accuracy, and edge-case handling</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Own the AI orchestration layer</strong>—from prompt engineering to context management, tool calling, and response streaming</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Drive architectural decisions</strong> that shape our voice AI pipeline, including integration with STT, TTS, and LLM providers</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Build evaluation frameworks</strong> to measure and iterate on AI performance, including automated testing for prompt quality and regression detection</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Collaborate closely with product and customers</strong> to translate real-world use cases into robust AI behaviors</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Mentor engineers</strong> and raise the technical bar across the organization</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Contribute to technical strategy</strong> as a key voice in how we build and scale our platform</li> </ul> <hr class="border-border-300 my-4"> <h2 class="font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5">What You Will Need</h2> <ul class="[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-2.5 pl-7"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>10+ years of software engineering experience</strong>, with significant time spent in backend or infrastructure roles</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Deep expertise in Python or Go</strong> (or similar languages) for building production systems</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Hands-on experience with LLMs</strong>—prompt engineering, fine-tuning, RAG architectures, or building AI-powered features</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Strong understanding of distributed systems</strong>, including event-driven architectures, async processing, and real-time data pipelines</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Experience with low-latency systems</strong> where milliseconds matter</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Track record of technical leadership</strong>—influencing architecture, mentoring engineers, and driving cross-functional initiatives</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>Excellent communication skills</strong>—you can explain complex technical concepts clearly to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words"><strong>A bias toward shipping</strong>—you balance technical excellence with pragmatism</li> </ul> <hr class="border-border-300 my-4"> <h2 class="font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5">Nice to Have</h2> <ul class="[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-2.5 pl-7"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Experience with <strong>voice AI, telephony, or real-time communication systems</strong> (WebRTC, SIP, SBCs)</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Familiarity with <strong>speech-to-text, text-to-speech, or VAD</strong> technologies</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Background in <strong>prompt optimization</strong> at scale—A/B testing prompts, building prompt management systems</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Experience with <strong>telecom, contact center, or conversational AI</strong> products</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Exposure to <strong>early-stage startups or high-growth companies</strong>, with a passion for driving results in fast-moving environments</li> </ul> <hr class="border-border-300 my-4"> <h2 class="font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5">What We Offer</h2> <ul class="[&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc space-y-2.5 pl-7"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Competitive compensation and equity packages</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Health, dental, and vision insurance</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Flexible vacation time (Unlimited PTO)</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">401k with 4% match</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">Quarterly bonuses</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words">The opportunity to shape the future of conversational AI at a company where your work directly impacts the product</li> </ul>