Spacecraft Thermal Engineer — Equity & High-Impact Start-up

Backpacker Job Board; Sydney; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Actual equity (ESOP)

Actual leave

Public holidays

Job summary

Space Machines Company is seeking a Spacecraft Thermal Engineer to join the Thermal and Mission Systems team. You will analyze, design, and validate thermal control for orbital spacecraft and ensure performance across LEO to GEO missions.

You will build thermal models, run diverse analyses, and translate results into design decisions while supporting tests, reviews, and cross‑disciplinary collaboration with avionics, structures, and propulsion teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical, Aerospace, Space Systems, or related engineering discipline.
• 2+ years delivering thermal analysis and design for space systems.
• Experience with industry-standard thermal tools (Thermal Desktop, Systema/Thermica, ESATAN‑TMS).
• Understanding of space environment factors like beta angle, eclipse and seasonal variation.
• Ability to perform first-principles calculations and rapid design decisions.
• Strong systems-thinking mindset and cross-discipline interfacing.
• Knowledge of passive and active thermal control hardware.

Responsibilities

• Thermal Analysis – Develop, run, and maintain thermal models of spacecraft, subsystems, and equipment.
• Thermal Design – Support sizing of active and passive thermal control solutions and translate analysis into practical hardware recommendations.
• Rapid Iteration – Perform hand calculations, simple models, and Python-based analysis for quick design turnaround.
• Trade Studies & Recommendations – Conduct trade-offs balancing thermal performance, mass, power, cost and manufacturability.
• Test & Validation – Support thermal testing campaigns and verify models against test data.
• Documentation & Reviews – Produce thermal analysis reports and verification material for reviews.
• Tools & Infrastructure –Develop and maintain internal thermal tools and post-processing workflows.

Skills

Thermal analysis

Thermal design

Thermal modeling tools

Python automation

Systems thinking

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Rapid iteration

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical, Aerospace, Space Systems, or related engineering

Tools

Thermal Desktop

Systema/Thermica

ESATAN‑TMS

NX Space Systems Thermal

Job description

Space Machines Company is seeking a Spacecraft Thermal Engineer to join the Thermal and Mission Systems team. You will analyze, design, and validate thermal control for orbital spacecraft and ensure performance across LEO to GEO missions.

You will build thermal models, run diverse analyses, and translate results into design decisions while supporting tests, reviews, and cross‑disciplinary collaboration with avionics, structures, and propulsion teams.