Lead Thermal Engineer for Solar-Powered Aircraft

Rob Law Max Recruitment; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee share option plan

Flexible working hours

Job summary

Kea Aerospace in Christchurch is seeking an experienced Senior Thermal Systems Engineer to lead the thermal design, analysis, testing and optimisation across the Kea Atmos aircraft. You will apply first-principles methods, develop reduced-order and 1D models, and use 3D CFD and multiphysics simulations to de-risk designs and optimise SWaP.

The role involves close collaboration with multidisciplinary teams and hardware integration, with relocation and flexible working conditions to suit experts

Qualifications

• 8+ years of dedicated thermal engineering experience.
• Strong understanding of heat transfer and thermal fundamentals.
• Programming capability, ideally using Python.
• Ability to develop, understand and interrogate your own engineering models.
• Strong English communication and technical writing capability.
• A relevant Engineering degree or equivalent experience.
• Experience applying thermal analysis to physical hardware will be highly regarded.

Responsibilities

• Lead thermal design, analysis, testing and optimisation across aircraft systems.
• Develop reduced-order and 1D thermal models, including developing your own modelling tools and scripts.
• Use 3D CFD and multiphysics simulation where appropriate to investigate complex thermal behaviour and de-risk designs prior to hardware build.
• Develop lightweight and energy-efficient thermal solutions while considering SWaP trade-offs.
• Work with physical hardware through prototyping, testing and validation, correlating test results against models.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, battery, avionics and other disciplines to optimise system-level performance.
• Communicate analysis, findings and recommendations through clear technical reporting.
• Contribute across the full engineering lifecycle from concept and analysis through to testing, integration and flight hardware.

Skills

Thermal engineering

Heat transfer

Python programming

Engineering modelling

Technical writing

English communication

Education

Engineering degree or equivalent

Job description

Kea Aerospace in Christchurch is seeking an experienced Senior Thermal Systems Engineer to lead the thermal design, analysis, testing and optimisation across the Kea Atmos aircraft. You will apply first-principles methods, develop reduced-order and 1D models, and use 3D CFD and multiphysics simulations to de-risk designs and optimise SWaP.

The role involves close collaboration with multidisciplinary teams and hardware integration, with relocation and flexible working conditions to suit experts