Lead Thermal Engineer - Simulation & Heat Transfer

Synerfac Technical Staffing; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Synerfac Technical Staffing seeks a senior Thermal Engineer in Columbus, OH to drive continuous improvement in thermal simulation, mentor staff, and provide technical leadership on demanding applications across industries worldwide.

The role requires a strong background in heat transfer, thermodynamics, and FEA, with hands-on experience using ANSYS and CAD tools. You will develop templates, tools, and workflows to boost productivity and ensure design integrity.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Sciences, Heat Transfer, Aerospace Engineering, Applied Physics, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related discipline.
• 5-10 years of engineering experience in thermal analysis, heat transfer, or thermal product development.
• Strong understanding of thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and thermal systems engineering.
• Extensive experience performing thermal finite element analysis (FEA).
• Experience with ANSYS software; ANSYS Discovery is preferred.
• Proficiency with SolidWorks and SpaceClaim or similar 3D CAD software.
• Strong communication and leadership to mentor engineers and drive improvements.
• Ability to solve complex problems using first-principles analysis.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical authority for heat transfer, thermodynamics, and thermal simulation across the organization.
• Lead the development and continuous improvement of thermal simulation methodologies, engineering standards, validation practices, and best practices.
• Perform advanced steady-state and transient thermal analyses using finite element analysis (FEA) to support product design and development.
• Develop and optimize thermal models for heating solutions used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and other demanding industrial applications.
• Evaluate temperature distributions, heat-up performance, surface temperatures, thermal gradients, thermal efficiency, and thermal safety considerations.
• Apply simulation-driven engineering to optimize product designs, improve performance, and reduce development cycle time.
• Establish and maintain standards for thermal modeling, simulation setup, material properties, engineering assumptions, meshing strategies, and results interpretation.
• Develop standardized simulation templates, workflows, and tools that improve consistency, repeatability, accuracy, and engineering efficiency.
• Validate simulation models through laboratory testing, analytical calculations, and correlation with product performance data.
• Lead engineering process improvement initiatives across Design Engineering and R&D teams.
• Develop engineering calculators, design tools, templates, and automated workflows to improve productivity and streamline repetitive engineering tasks.
• Identify opportunities to improve SolidWorks modeling practices, engineering procedures, simulation workflows, and design standards.
• Leverage Python, VBA, and similar technologies to automate engineering calculations, analyses, and repetitive design processes.
• Research and implement new engineering methods, software tools, and technologies that enhance engineering capabilities and product development efficiency.
• Mentor and train design engineers in thermal analysis, simulation methodologies, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and engineering fundamentals.
• Develop technical documentation, work instructions, training materials, and engineering standards to support consistent application of engineering best practices.
• Provide technical support for complex customer applications and unique thermal challenges.
• Collaborate with customer engineering teams to understand application requirements and recommend practical, optimized thermal solutions.
• Communicate complex engineering analyses, simulation results, thermal trade-offs, and design recommendations effectively to technical audiences.
• Support strategic semiconductor OEM customers and participate in customer technical discussions as needed.
• Travel occasionally to customer sites to provide technical support and address application-specific thermal engineering requirements.

Skills

Heat transfer

Thermodynamics

Finite element analysis

First-principles analysis

Engineering judgment

Education

Master's/PhD in Mechanical Eng or related field

Tools

ANSYS

SolidWorks

SpaceClaim

Python

VBA

Job description

Synerfac Technical Staffing seeks a senior Thermal Engineer in Columbus, OH to drive continuous improvement in thermal simulation, mentor staff, and provide technical leadership on demanding applications across industries worldwide.

The role requires a strong background in heat transfer, thermodynamics, and FEA, with hands-on experience using ANSYS and CAD tools. You will develop templates, tools, and workflows to boost productivity and ensure design integrity.