Principal Mechanical Engineer is open at Clera in San Francisco. The posting gives a salary of $235K - $305K. Posted on Nov 12, 2026, and still on Clera’s careers page when we last checked, on Nov 14, 2026.
About the role
About the Role
Join a small defense technology team developing autonomous, field-deployed directed energy systems. You will provide senior mechanical engineering judgment across the full system, guiding hardware from architecture and integration through production readiness and field use.
What You'll Do
- Own mechanical architecture across the system and lead integration with electrical, power, embedded, and optics disciplines.
- Make technical decisions on complex hardware problems from concept through production readiness.
- Guide hardware release and production processes in partnership with manufacturing.
- Review designs, analysis, and documentation to identify risks early and maintain strong engineering standards.
- Perform hands-on engineering work where your experience can resolve challenging problems quickly.
- Make design and manufacturing tradeoffs across cost, mass, reliability, schedule, and field performance.
- Share technical expertise through hands-on mentorship and design collaboration.
What We're Looking For
- At least 10 years of experience designing and shipping complex hardware systems.
- Mechanical engineering is your primary discipline, with recent hands-on experience in CAD, structures, mechanisms, and packaging.
- Repeated experience taking hardware from prototype through manufacturing and field deployment.
- Experience leading full-system integration across mechanical and multiple engineering disciplines, with meaningful judgment in electrical, power electronics, or embedded systems.
- Experience with ruggedized hardware, real-world operating environments, and analysis such as FEA or hand calculations correlated against test data.
- A senior individual contributor or technical lead background at a hardware company that shipped products.
- Defense, aerospace, robotics, high-performance automotive, maritime, or directed energy experience is relevant. Experience with high-power thermal management, beam-directing mechanisms, manufacturing scale-up, or military-grade qualification is valuable.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary: $235,000 to $305,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.
Location
On-site in San Francisco, California, United States.
The employer’s own description, as published on Clera’s careers page.
Hiring at Clera
Clera has 256 open roles right now, 61 of them remote. Most are in Engineering, Sales & Business Development and Marketing & Community. The median advertised salary across its roles with a published range is $178K. See all its roles
