Principal Thermal Engineer – AI System

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

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a senior Thermal Design Engineer to own system-level thermal design for high-power GPUs, CPUs, and HPC platforms. Lead airflow and liquid cooling solutions from concept through production, with strong collaboration across engineering teams.

The role requires 10+ years of hands-on experience in thermal design, CFD modeling, and direct-to-chip cooling, with proven bring-up and manufacturing ramp experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in Mechanical or Thermal Engineering.
• 10+ years of hands-on thermal design for high-power electronics.
• Strong knowledge of airflow and liquid cooling systems.

Responsibilities

• Own system-level thermal design from concept to production.
• Lead thermal bring-up across EVT/DVT/PVT and debug hotspots.
• Collaborate with mechanical, hardware, and manufacturing teams to embed thermal methods.

Skills

Thermal Design

CFD Modeling

Airflow Optimization

Direct-to-Chip Cooling

System-level Thermal Design

Education

Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering

Master's in Thermal Engineering

Tools

CFD Modeling Tools

Job description

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in system-level thermal design, including airflow optimization and liquid cooling solutions for high-power electronics. Proficient in thermal modeling and validation, with a strong focus on collaboration across engineering teams to ensure effective thermal methodologies.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Thermal Design Engineering
• CFD Modeling
• Liquid Cooling Systems
• Airflow Optimization
• Thermal Methodology Development

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Thermal Design
• CFD Modeling Tools
• Liquid Cooling Solutions
• Air-Cooled Systems
• High-Power Electronics
• Thermal Validation
• Debugging Physical Systems
• Thermal-Power-Reliability Relationships
• Characterization Testing
• Root-Cause Analysis

Soft Skills

• Clear Communication
• Problem Ownership
• Mentoring Engineers

Certifications & Qualifications

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

Industry Keywords

• High-Power GPUs
• HPC Systems
• Hyperscale Deployment
• Direct-to-Chip Cooling
• Manufacturing Ramp