Clera

Principal Mechanical Engineer

San Francisco
Salary
$235,000 - $305,000 annually
Level
Principal
Work type
On-site · San Francisco
Visa
Not offered

Open. First seen 5 November 2026.

Apply on the company's site →

About the role

About the Role

Join a small defense technology team developing autonomous directed-energy systems for counter-drone applications. As Principal Mechanical Engineer, you will own system-wide mechanical architecture and help take complex hardware from prototype through production and field deployment.

What You'll Do

  • Lead mechanical architecture and integration across electrical, power, embedded, and optics subsystems.
  • Make technical decisions on challenging hardware problems from concept through production readiness.
  • Guide hardware release and production processes in partnership with manufacturing teams.
  • Review designs, calculations, and test results to identify risks early and maintain high engineering standards.
  • Personally execute mechanical design work when your experience can resolve a problem quickly.
  • Balance cost, mass, reliability, schedule, and field performance in design and manufacturing decisions.
  • Mentor engineers through hands-on technical leadership and design reviews.

What We're Looking For

  • 10 or more years designing and shipping complex hardware systems, including multiple transitions from prototype through manufacturing and deployment.
  • Mechanical engineering is your primary discipline, with recent hands-on experience in CAD, structures, mechanisms, and packaging.
  • Deep mechanical expertise and sound judgment in at least one additional area, such as electrical engineering, power electronics, or embedded systems.
  • Experience leading full-system hardware integration and designing equipment for demanding real-world environments.
  • Ability to correlate FEA or hand calculations with bench or field test data.
  • Background as a senior individual contributor or technical lead at a hardware organization that shipped products.
  • Experience in defense hardware, aerospace, robotics, high-performance automotive, maritime, or a related field is valuable. Directed energy, laser or high-power systems, thermal management, ruggedized equipment, and manufacturing scale-up experience are also relevant.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary: $235,000 to $305,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Location

On-site in San Francisco, California, United States.

What this role asks for

Particular to this role

Embedded Systems · FEA

Rare in Clera's other 183 open postings.

Compared with Clera's other open jobs.

The team: Engineering HIRES STEADILY

This role is one of 182 open in Engineering. 116 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 (92 of 182), TypeScript (91 of 182), Python (76 of 182), React (76 of 182), Machine Learning (42 of 182), PostgreSQL (36 of 182), Supabase (36 of 182)

OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM

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

Posting history

Reposted 2 times since 21 October 2026: a posting for this role in San Francisco was taken down and the role was posted again.

Salary context

10 other open postings titled Principal Mechanical Engineer state a salary: median USD 162,660 to USD 225,275 a year.

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