Senior Research Leader, Thermal-Fluid Systems

UC Davis; Davis (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

University of California, Davis's Western Cooling Efficiency Center seeks a Research Professional to lead a multidisciplinary program focused on advanced thermal-fluid systems, high-performance heat exchangers, liquid cooling, and energy-efficient thermal management for data centers, buildings, and industry.

The role covers design, development, testing, and modeling across AI/HPC cooling, manufacturing, and decarbonization technologies, with emphasis on leadership and mentoring of researchers

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in engineering with a strong research record in thermal-fluid systems.
• Minimum ten years of post-Ph.D. research leadership and mentoring.
• Experience directing externally funded research and proposal development.

Responsibilities

• Lead independent and collaborative research programs in thermal-fluid systems.
• Develop and manage sponsored projects from federal, state, and industry sponsors.
• Direct laboratory experiments, prototype development, and validation.
• Supervise postdocs, graduate students, and staff engineers.
• Manage budgets, schedules, sponsor communications, and reporting.
• Establish collaborations with industry, labs, and agencies.
• Publish in peer‑reviewed journals and present at conferences.
• Contribute to invention disclosures and technology transfer activities.
• Provide strategic leadership for new research directions and big initiatives.

Skills

Heat transfer

Fluid mechanics

Thermal system design

Data center cooling

Energy-efficient cooling

Thermal energy storage

Additive manufacturing

Project management

Mentoring

Education

Ph.D. in engineering

Tools

CFD software

Simulation tools

Job description

University of California, Davis's Western Cooling Efficiency Center seeks a Research Professional to lead a multidisciplinary program focused on advanced thermal-fluid systems, high-performance heat exchangers, liquid cooling, and energy-efficient thermal management for data centers, buildings, and industry.

The role covers design, development, testing, and modeling across AI/HPC cooling, manufacturing, and decarbonization technologies, with emphasis on leadership and mentoring of researchers