Clera

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Detroit
Salary
$165,000 - $210,000 annually
Level
Senior
Work type
On-site · Detroit
Visa
Not offered

Open. First seen 30 October 2026.

Apply on the company's site →

About the role

About the Role

Own major mechanical subsystems for ruggedized, field-deployable directed-energy systems, from architecture through production handoff. You will work on a lean engineering team to help ensure high-performance equipment operates reliably in demanding field conditions.

What You'll Do

  • Design and validate mechanical subsystems, including laser source enclosures, gimbal and beam director structures, and precision mounts.
  • Perform static, modal, random vibration, and shock response spectrum FEA, then correlate results with bench and field testing.
  • Develop thermal management solutions for high-power laser and electronics packaging across thermal cycles.
  • Build, instrument, and operate test rigs to characterize systems ahead of field deployment.
  • Design to MIL-STD-810 shock and vibration requirements and other austere-environment standards.
  • Take designs from concept through prototyping, bench validation, field testing, and manufacturing handoff.
  • Lead design reviews, collaborate with senior engineers, mentor junior team members, and travel to field test events.

What We're Looking For

  • At least 5 years of mechanical engineering experience with ruggedized, field-deployable, or high-performance systems, including taking a subsystem from prototype to production.
  • Strong hands-on FEA experience with ANSYS, Nastran, Abaqus, or equivalent, including test validation and correlation.
  • Experience designing to MIL-STD-810 or equivalent shock and vibration standards, and with precision optomechanical packaging.
  • Thermal management experience on high-power systems, plus experience building and running bench test rigs and instrumentation.
  • Experience with design for manufacturability and production handoff.
  • BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
  • Background in lasers, directed energy, ruggedized optical benches, or vehicle-mounted systems is a plus.
  • U.S. citizenship is required.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary: $165,000 to $210,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Location

On-site in Detroit, Michigan, with travel for field tests and range validation.

What this role asks for

Particular to this role

ANSYS · FEA

Rare in Clera's other 205 open postings.

Compared with Clera's other open jobs.

The team: Engineering HIRES STEADILY

This role is one of 201 open in Engineering. 135 were posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in March: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.

WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS

LLM (94 of 201), TypeScript (88 of 201), Python (81 of 201), React (74 of 201), Machine Learning (41 of 201), PostgreSQL (40 of 201), Supabase (36 of 201)

OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM

From the team and dates on Clera's own job board.

Posting history

Reposted once since 22 October 2026: a posting for this role in Detroit was taken down and the role was posted again.

  • 30 October 2026 – open (this posting)
  • 22 October 2026 – closed 29 October 2026

Salary context

85 other open postings titled Senior Mechanical Engineer state a salary: median USD 137,000 to USD 187,048 a year.

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SKILLSFEA 1,565ANSYS 1,470
PLACESDetroit 75United States 72,771
COMPANYJobs at Clera 203

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