Hypersonic Thermal Engineer — Lead High-Speed Vehicle Design

Anduril Industries, Inc.; Costa Mesa, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 129,000 - 171,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries, Inc. is seeking a Thermal Engineer to join the Hypersonic Air Vehicles team in Costa Mesa, CA.

You will support the thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles operating in demanding high-speed flight environments. This role suits someone early to mid-career with strong heat transfer and fluid dynamics fundamentals who wants to grow into full ownership of thermal design problems on hypersonic vehicle programs.

Qualifications

• MS or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Applied Physics with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics.
• In-depth understanding of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and high-temperature environments.
• Coursework, research, or industry experience in thermal analysis for aerospace or high-performance hardware systems.
• Experience with CFD (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent) and/or FEA thermal solvers.
• Programming experience in MATLAB, Python, or similar.
• Ability to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Support thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles at conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design maturities
• Perform thermal analysis of flight vehicles using CFD, FEA, and engineering methods
• Support material response modeling under combined thermal and mechanical loads
• Conduct transient thermal analysis for time-varying mission profiles
• Support ground test planning, execution, and analysis in specialized thermal test facilities
• Use first principles and MATLAB/Python models to inform design decisions
• Collaborate with aerodynamics, structures, electrical, and systems engineers on integrated solutions
• Present thermal analysis results at internal design reviews
• Prepare formal documentation (specifications, test procedures, technical reports)

Skills

Heat transfer

Fluid dynamics

CFD

FEA

MATLAB

Python

Top Secret clearance

Education

MS in Aerospace/Mechanical/Applied Physics

Tools

SolidWorks

Siemens NX

STAR-CCM+

ANSYS Fluent

Job description

Anduril Industries, Inc. is seeking a Thermal Engineer to join the Hypersonic Air Vehicles team in Costa Mesa, CA.

You will support the thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles operating in demanding high-speed flight environments. This role suits someone early to mid-career with strong heat transfer and fluid dynamics fundamentals who wants to grow into full ownership of thermal design problems on hypersonic vehicle programs.