Hypersonic Thermal Protection Engineer

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

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Competitive benefits

Top-tier compensation package

Job summary

Anduril Industries, a defense technology company, seeks a Thermal Engineer specializing in Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) to own design, analysis, and validation for hypersonic and high-speed flight systems in extreme aerothermal environments.

The role emphasizes first-principles hand calculations, material response modeling, and CFD to guide high-consequence design decisions. Requires TS clearance eligibility and strong aero-thermal expertise.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related field with aerothermodynamics focus.
• 2+ years in TPS design, aerothermal analysis, or high-temperature material response.
• Strong first-principles understanding of aerodynamic heating, ablation, and high-temperature heat transfer.
• Experience with material-response modeling tools (FIAT, CMA, TITAN) or equivalents.
• Experience supporting thermal design for hypersonic/defense systems.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

• Own TPS design, material selection, and thermal analysis for hypersonic platforms.
• Perform aerothermal heating analysis using correlations, boundary-layer methods, and CFD.
• Conduct ablation and material response modeling to predict TPS recession and margins.
• Evaluate TPS materials based on loads, mass constraints, and manufacturability.
• Partner with aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, and systems engineers to integrate TPS.
• Define and execute thermal/material characterization tests (arcjet, furnace, flight-article).
• Build/maintain thermal models from hand calculations to detailed FEA/CFD.
• Present TPS status, risks, and tradeoffs in design reviews and customer reviews.
• Support failure reviews using test data and first-principles reasoning.

Skills

First-principles analysis

Aerothermal heating knowledge

Material response modeling

MATLAB/Python analysis

Hypersonic thermal design

Security clearance capability

Education

MS or PhD in Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering or related field

Focus on aerothermodynamics/thermal sciences/materials science

Tools

FIAT

CMA

TITAN

DPLR

US3D

Loci-CHEM

CFD++

ANSYS Fluent

STAR-CCM+

Job description

Anduril Industries, a defense technology company, seeks a Thermal Engineer specializing in Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) to own design, analysis, and validation for hypersonic and high-speed flight systems in extreme aerothermal environments.

The role emphasizes first-principles hand calculations, material response modeling, and CFD to guide high-consequence design decisions. Requires TS clearance eligibility and strong aero-thermal expertise.