Thermal Engineer

About the Role

We are looking for a Thermal Engineer to help own the thermal architecture, analysis, and management of new electromechanical mechanisms and autonomous systems. In our high-power robotic platforms, managing heat from high-performance electric motors, dense electronics, and heavy duty load cases is a critical bottleneck to performance. You will be the extreme owner of thermal environments from initial first-principles sizing to high-rate production.

You will have creative freedom to explore engineering trades from first principles, designing thermal dissipation pathways, heatsinks, and custom cooling solutions. You will also design thermal test setups, work closely with suppliers, and collaborate deeply with mechanical and actuator engineers to ensure our hardware survives extreme operational stress.

We believe in having small, talent-dense teams and removing friction across everything. We index on high gradient and learning rates as opposed to extensive prior experience. If you love solving complex thermodynamics problems and thrive in a fast-paced environment where your work directly impacts hardware in the real world, you will enjoy working with us.

What You'll Do

• Own Thermal Architecture: Design and analyze lightweight, high-efficiency thermal management solutions deployed in unique structural environments and extreme load cases.
• Thermal Modeling: Perform first-principles thermal network modeling, advanced CFD, and transient thermal analysis to de-risk heating loops across motors and electronics.
• Collaborative Design: Work tightly with the mechanical and actuation teams to integrate thermal components (heat pipes, interfaces, cooling geometry) directly into structural designs while keeping part count low.
• Physical Testing: Develop thermal qual test procedures, instrument prototype rigs with sensors, and execute physical testing to correlate your digital thermal models with real-world data.
• DFM for Thermal Components: Own DFM (Design for Manufacturing) for thermal management hardware, working directly with suppliers to optimize high-volume manufacturing.
• De-risk Extremes: Use the basic scientific method to perform rigorous experiments on environmental trades, boundary conditions, and known unknown variables.

What You'll Bring

• 2+ years of professional experience (including engineering clubs, commercial, and research internships) with a heavy focus on consumer electronics thermal design, aerospace thermal systems, or electric powertrain cooling.
• Advanced CFD & Modeling Skills: High proficiency in CFD software (Ansys Fluent, Icepak, SimScale, Star-CCM+, or equivalent) and thermal network modeling.
• Solid CAD Foundation: Experience navigating and modeling within modern CAD environments (OnShape, Siemens NX, Fusion 360, or SolidWorks) to manipulate geometric fluid volumes.
• Experimental Rigor: Experience selecting, placing, and data-logging physical thermal sensors (thermocouples, RTDs, IR cameras) for hardware testing.
• Fundamental Mastery: Excellence and mastery of thermodynamics, heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation), and fluid mechanics.
• Winning Spirit: A demonstrated competitive drive, whether shown in engineering competitions, physical athletics, or e-sports.

Preferred Skills

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or a related field with a thermal/fluids focus.
• Experience designing thermal systems for high-power electric motors or high-density battery enclosures.
• Familiarity with manufacturing processes for thermal interfaces, complex castings, or injection-molded components.
• Basic understanding of structural FEA to evaluate thermal stress and structural deformation under heat.