A bearing rotor thrust sensor assembly is provided for being secured to a bearing housing having a plurality of fingers extending between a pair of opposite portions of the housing. The assembly includes a first anchor member including a first cleat and configured to couple to a first housing portion of the pair of opposite housing portions, a second anchor member including a second cleat and configured to couple to a second of the pair of opposite housing portions, and a head sensor bracket positioned at least partially between the first and second anchor members. The head sensor bracket includes a load cell including a bridge circuit for producing a signal representative of forces on said cell.