Founding Product Engineer
Clera · Berlin
What this role requires
4 requirements, read out of the advert rather than guessed from the job title:
Also mentioned, not required: German. Worth having, but their absence is not what gets a CV filtered out.
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Job description
About the Role
We're a fast-growing, Vienna-headquartered AI communication startup building an AI phone assistant platform for SMEs across Europe — and we're looking for a Founding Product Engineer to join our engineering team. This is a high-ownership, end-to-end role at the intersection of product thinking and full-stack engineering. You'll help shape the product from hypothesis to production, working closely with customers, partners, and sales to deliver features that create real, measurable business value.
We're a remote-first team with an optional office in Vienna. You'll need meaningful overlap with Central European Time (CET). Our product is German-language-first, so native-level German proficiency is essential .
What You'll Do
Own features end-to-end — from hypothesis and prototype through architecture, implementation, and production release.
Lead product discovery by designing and running rapid experiments to validate ideas before committing to large-scale builds.
Read the full description (27 more sections)Show less
Maintain close, recurring contact with customers, partners, and the sales team to surface real pain points and translate them into product decisions.
Design and implement tracking and analytics to enable data-driven iteration.
Drive architecture choices across the full stack and take responsibility through to release.
Prioritize pragmatic, scalable solutions that balance speed of validation with long-term quality.
Take radical ownership of your initiatives — move things forward without waiting for sign-offs.
What We're Looking For
Must-haves (dealbreakers):
3+ years of experience in Product Engineering delivering end-to-end software features.
Strong full-stack proficiency: Node.js, TypeScript, NestJS, and React .
Native-level German fluency (Deutsch auf Muttersprache-Niveau) — essential for our German-language product and customer interactions.
Required:
Experience integrating software with external systems (CRMs, calendar tools, databases, APIs).
Ability to gather customer feedback and convert pain points into prioritized product decisions.
Comfort identifying, tracking, and analyzing product metrics to drive data-informed choices.
Proven experience owning the full development lifecycle from architecture to production.
Nice to have:
Experience working with AI/LLM integrations (e.g., OpenAI or similar) — this is a strong advantage.
Familiarity with GDPR compliance and EU AI Act considerations in product development.
Background working in remote-first, asynchronous environments at early-stage or high-growth startups.
Compensation & Benefits
Salary: €80,000 – €120,000 annually, depending on experience.
Equity: Meaningful equity stake as part of a high-growth founding team environment.
Remote-first flexibility with optional office access in Vienna.
Please note: visa sponsorship is not available for this role.
Location
Fully remote, with a preference for candidates based in Germany or able to work with significant CET overlap. An optional co-working office is available in Vienna, Austria.
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