Clera
From company careers site
Senior Mechanical Engineer
- Location
- Detroit
- Work mode
- On-site
- Employment type
- Full-time
About the job
ABOUT THE ROLE
Own major mechanical subsystems for ruggedized directed-energy systems, from architecture through production handoff. You will work on a lean engineering team to build and validate field-deployable hardware designed to perform in demanding environments.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Design and validate laser enclosures, beam director and gimbal 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 run test rigs to characterize systems before field deployment.
- Design for MIL-STD-810 shock and vibration requirements and other austere operating conditions.
- Take designs from concept through prototyping, validation, field testing, and manufacturing handoff.
- Lead design reviews, collaborate across engineering disciplines, and mentor junior engineers.
- Travel to field tests and range events to validate and improve system performance.
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 skills with ANSYS, Nastran, Abaqus, or equivalent, including test correlation.
- Experience designing to MIL-STD-810 or equivalent shock and vibration standards, and with precision optomechanical packaging.
- Thermal management experience for high-power systems, plus experience building and running validation rigs and instrumentation.
- Experience with design for manufacturability and manufacturing handoff.
- BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
- Laser, directed-energy, ruggedized optical bench, or vehicle-mounted systems experience is a plus.
- U.S. citizenship is required.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Base salary is $165,000 to $210,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.
LOCATION
On-site in Detroit, Michigan, with travel required for field testing and range validation.
From Clera's careers page (Ashby), checked 29 Oct 2026.
How to apply
- Select Apply on getclera.com. It opens Clera's own application form in a new tab, run on Ashby.
- Fill in the form and upload your résumé there. Jobiwork never sees your application.
- Clera will reply to you directly. No real employer asks you for money to apply.
Posted 22 Oct 2026 · checked 29 Oct 2026 · Report this job