Senior Robotics Engineer, Controls

Clera Labs, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Clera Labs, Inc. in San Francisco, CA, is hiring a senior robotics engineer to own the precision motion control stack for autonomous defense systems.

You will lead design from architecture to field testing, with strong emphasis on state estimation, sensor fusion, and real-time performance. You will implement control algorithms (LQR/MPC), develop simulations, and validate against hardware in diverse environments.

Qualifications

• At least 4 years of robotics experience with closed-loop control on physical motion hardware.
• Strong grounding in classical and state-space control (LQR/MPC) and applying these methods to real systems.
• Hands-on state estimation and sensor fusion using Kalman, EKF, UKF, or complementary filters.
• Experience with system identification, frequency-domain tuning, resonance compensation, latency and jitter in real-time loops.

Responsibilities

• Design and tune precision pointing and tracking control loops from sensor input to actuator command.
• Build state estimation and sensor fusion across IMUs, encoders, and vision feedback.
• Model gimbal, mount, actuator dynamics and compensate nonlinearities.
• Develop simulation and hardware-in-the-loop infrastructure to validate controls and reduce the sim-to-real gap.
• Characterize system performance on hardware and during field testing, and document control designs and tuning standards.

Skills

Robotics

Control theory (LQR/MPC)

State estimation

Kalman/UKF/EKF

Real-time C++

Python/MATLAB

System identification

Sensor fusion

Hardware-in-the-loop

Simulation

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

C++ (Real-time)

Job description

About the Role

Join a small engineering team at a defense technology company developing autonomous systems to counter drone threats. As a senior individual contributor, you will own the precision motion control stack, from control architecture and state estimation to hardware testing and field characterization.

What You'll Do

• Design and tune precision pointing and tracking control loops, including closed-loop control from sensor input to actuator command.

• Build state estimation and sensor fusion across IMUs, encoders, and vision feedback.

• Identify and model gimbal, mount, and actuator dynamics, then compensate for resonance, backlash, friction, saturation, and other nonlinearities.

• Develop simulation and hardware-in-the-loop infrastructure to validate controls and reduce the sim-to-real gap.

• Characterize system performance on hardware and during field testing, and document control designs and tuning standards.

What We’re Looking For

• At least 4 years of robotics experience, including designing and tuning closed-loop controllers on physical motion hardware.

• Strong grounding in classical and state-space control, including LQR and MPC, with experience applying these methods to real systems.

• Hands-on state estimation and sensor fusion experience using Kalman, EKF, UKF, or complementary filters.

• Experience with system identification, frequency-domain tuning, resonance compensation, and managing latency and jitter in real-time loops.

• Modern C++ for real-time control, plus Python or MATLAB/Simulink for modeling and analysis.

• Familiarity with servo drives, brushless motors, encoders, and IMUs, and the ability to work across mechanical, electrical, and software disciplines.

• Experience building control simulations and validating them against hardware.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary: $180,000 to $200,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Location

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