Product Design Engineer, Thermals

Hark; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Hark, located in San Jose, California, seeks a Thermal Architect to lead the thermal architecture for our AI-centric devices. The role demands extensive experience in thermal engineering and collaboration with cross-functional teams to optimize device performance and user comfort.

Ideal candidates have a proven track record in battery-powered consumer electronics and expertise in thermal simulation tools. This is an opportunity to contribute to innovative AI technology in a rapidly evolving field.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in thermal engineering with experience in battery-powered consumer electronics.
• Expert-level experience with thermal simulation tools and real-world correlation.
• Deep knowledge of thermal module technologies, such as heat pipes and vapor chambers.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the thermal architecture from early stages to production.
• Translate product use cases into thermal scenarios for design iterations.
• Conduct detailed thermal analysis at various fidelity levels.

Skills

Thermal engineering

Thermal simulation tools

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Icepak

Fluent

Ansys

Job description

About Hark

Hark is an artificial intelligence company building advanced, personalized intelligence. One that is proactive, multimodal, and capable of interacting with the world through speech, text, vision, and persistent memory.

We're pairing that intelligence with next-generation hardware to create a universal interface between humans and machines. While today's AI largely operates through chat boxes and decade-old devices, Hark is focused on what comes next: agentic systems that interact naturally with people and the real world.

To get there, we're developing multimodal models and next-generation AI hardware together - designed from the ground up as a single, unified interface for a new era of intelligent systems.

About the Role

You’ll drive the system-wide thermal architecture for our AI-centric consumer devices, from early concepts through detailed architecture and production validation. Balance performance, battery life, cost, and user comfort. Work hands-on across simulation, prototyping, and test to enable informed architecture analysis, proactively highlighting tradeoffs and opportunities. Collaborate closely with industrial design, mechanical, electrical, and software teams to converge holistic thermal solutions.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the thermal architecture from early architecture & NPI through production, including foundational system architecture simulation & analysis, material selection, thermal solution design, and cost optimization.
• Translate product use cases and real-world usage profiles into thermal loading scenarios that drive early design iteration
• Conduct detailed thermal analysis at variable fidelity levels as needed - analytic analysis for team directional analysis, coarse analysis for quick iteration of parallel ideas, and detailed analysis for high fidelity studies.
• Design and build custom thermal test infrastructure and measurement methodologies tailored to each product program
• Partner cross-functionally to ensure thermal constraints are integrated into system-level decisions around power budgets, enclosure design, and silicon selection

Requirements

• 8+ years in thermal engineering with multiple shipped battery-powered consumer electronics
• Expert-level experience with thermal simulation tools (Icepak, Fluent, Ansys, or similar) and real world correlation
• Deep experience with thermal module technologies — heat pipes, vapor chambers, TIMs, graphite spreaders — and vendor evaluation at scale
• Experience in system-level power/thermal co-optimization with software or firmware teams
• Proven ability to build custom thermal test setups and drive data-backed architecture decisions during early NPI phases
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills — translating thermal trade-offs into language that all engineering and design teams can act on

Bonus Qualifications

• Familiarity with regulatory and safety thermal compliance (UL, IEC) for consumer products
• Experience building internal thermal modeling tools, dashboards, or automated test frameworks

Compensation

The pay offered for this position may vary based on several individual factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package may also include additional components/benefits depending on the specific role. This information will be shared if an employment offer is extended.