Principal Thermal Engineer - AI System

Hyve Solutions; Fremont (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

HYVE Solutions in Fremont, California seeks a Principal Thermal Engineer to own system-level thermal design for next-generation AI and GPU servers, including air‑cooled and liquid‑cooled platforms. You will lead hands-on design, validation, bring-up, and production support across EVT/DVT/PVT, collaborating with mechanical, hardware, power, firmware, SI and manufacturing teams.

The role requires 10+ years in thermal design for high-power servers, strong CFD skills, and a proven track record

Qualifications

• 10+ years in hands-on thermal design for servers, GPUs, or high-power electronics.
• Proven delivery of air-cooled and/or liquid-cooled systems into production.
• Experience with EVT/DVT/PVT bring-up and manufacturing ramp.
• Strong CFD/thermal modeling tool knowledge and lab validation skills.
• Hyperscale deployment experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own system-level thermal design from concept through production for AI and GPU servers.
• Design and optimize airflow, heatsinks, cold plates, and liquid cooling hardware.
• Lead liquid and air cooling implementations and support hybrid platforms.
• Perform thermal CFD modeling, instrument systems for validation, and correlate with lab data.
• Lead bring-up, debugging, and root-cause analysis across teams.

Skills

Thermal design

CFD modeling

Air cooling

Liquid cooling

Thermal validation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Mechanical Engineering or Thermal Engineering

Tools

CFD tools

Lab instrumentation

Job description

@HYVE Solutions, missions to help customers, business partners, and employees achieve success through shared goals, strategies, resources and technology solutions.

With next-generation AI accelerators pushing power densities far beyond traditional limits, thermal design is now one of the primary constraints on system performance, reliability, and deployment. The industry is rapidly transitioning from air cooling to hybrid and liquid-cooled systems, and hands-on thermal execution is critical to getting these platforms into production. This Principal-level individual contributor role owns system thermal design, validation, and production support for Hyve's next-generation AI and GPU servers—directly designing, testing, and debugging air-cooled and liquid-cooled systems.

Core Responsibilities

• Hands-on system thermal design. Own system-level thermal design from early concept through production, optimizing airflow, heatsinks, cold plates, heat exchangers, and liquid cooling hardware for very high-power GPUs, CPUs, VRs, and memory.
• Liquid and air cooling implementation. Design direct-to-chip liquid cooling solutions (cold plates, manifolds, tubing, quick-disconnects), support hybrid platforms, and own airflow design including fan selection, ducting, zoning, and impedance reduction.
• Modeling, lab validation, and correlation. Perform thermal and CFD modeling to guide placement and layout, instrument systems for validation, execute characterization and margin testing under real AI workloads, and correlate simulation with lab data.
• Bring-up, debug, and issue resolution. Lead thermal bring-up across EVT/DVT/PVT, debug hotspots, instability, and flow anomalies, and drive root-cause analysis with permanent fixes through factory ramp and field deployment.
• Cross-functional leadership. Work closely with mechanical, hardware, power, firmware, SI, and manufacturing teams to ensure thermal considerations are embedded into board layouts, mechanical stackups, and rack packaging; set thermal methodology and mentor engineers.
  

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Education: Bachelor's or Master's in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience: 10+ years of hands-on thermal design for servers, GPU platforms, HPC systems, or high-power electronics, with proven delivery of air-cooled and/or liquid-cooled systems into production and direct involvement in bring-up, validation, and manufacturing ramp. Hyperscale deployment experience strongly preferred.
• Technical expertise: Strong hands-on knowledge of airflow and thermal design for high-power servers, direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems, cold plates/pumps/manifolds/heat exchangers, and CFD/thermal modeling tools; deep understanding of thermal-power-reliability relationships in AI/GPU systems.
• Working style: Strong individual contributor able to own problems end-to-end, comfortable debugging physical systems in the lab, and a clear communicator who translates thermal data into actionable design changes.
  

Compensation

@ HYVE Solutions, we believe employees are our greatest asset and we empower them to make a difference in our business.

Diversity and inclusion make us all better.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.