Senior Robotic Controls Architect – Autonomous Pointing

Clera Labs, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 315,000; Full time

Job summary

Clera Labs, Inc. in San Francisco is seeking a senior controls engineer to lead precision pointing and tracking architectures for defense-directed energy systems.

You will shepherd theory, simulation, and hardware testing from concept to flight-ready implementations. The role demands PhD-level depth in control and estimation, extensive experience with Kalman-type filters and multi-rate designs, and strong embedded C/C++ on RTOS, plus MATLAB/Simulink.

Qualifications

• PhD-level depth in control theory and estimation.
• 10+ years closing loops on precision pointing, tracking, or stabilization hardware.
• Proficiency in robust control (H-infinity, mu-synthesis, LQG) and advanced estimation (Kalman variants, IMM).
• Experience shipping C/C++ control loops on embedded/RTOS targets; MATLAB/Simulink and Python.

Responsibilities

• Design control architecture for coarse gimbals and fine steering mirrors with bandwidth allocation and multi-rate operation.
• Develop Kalman variants and sensor fusion that produce latency-compensated aimpoints.
• Build line-of-sight stabilization, jitter rejection, and adaptive/notch filtering for structural modes.
• Allocate pointing error budgets and validate performance in field tests.
• Model plants and dynamics for gimbals and mirrors using simulation and hardware-in-the-loop validation.
• Analyze robustness under disturbances and integrate controls with tracking and safety logic.
• Deploy control algorithms to embedded targets and lead kilohertz-rate loops.
• Provide technical review and mentor engineers.

Skills

Precision control

Sensor fusion

Embedded C/C++

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

Real-time systems

Education

PhD in control theory

Tools

C/C++ on embedded/RTOS

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

Job description

Clera Labs, Inc. in San Francisco is seeking a senior controls engineer to lead precision pointing and tracking architectures for defense-directed energy systems.

You will shepherd theory, simulation, and hardware testing from concept to flight-ready implementations. The role demands PhD-level depth in control and estimation, extensive experience with Kalman-type filters and multi-rate designs, and strong embedded C/C++ on RTOS, plus MATLAB/Simulink.