Senior Space Thermal Engineer — Hybrid, Instrument & System Balance

Muon Space; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 183,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Job summary

Muon Space is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer to own instrument-level thermal engineering across missions, including models, hardware, and verification end-to-end, while contributing to spacecraft-level thermal balance.

The position is hybrid and requires on-site work at our San Jose, CA office three days per week, enabling collaboration across disciplines to land elegant, balanced designs.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in spacecraft or aerospace thermal engineering.
• Expert in thermal simulation and full-spacecraft thermal balance.
• Experience designing, executing, and correlating TVAC and unit-level thermal tests.
• Fluency across thermal-mechanical interfaces (ICDs, margins, requirements flow-down).
• B.S. or higher in Mechanical, Aerospace, Physics, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Own instrument thermal models and drive instrument NRE and per-mission-block design improvements.
• Own the thermal V&V test plan, including model correlation, for instruments.
• Own thermal hardware ICDs (heat straps, radiators) and performance requirements.
• Contribute to full-spacecraft thermal balance and system thermal model integration.
• Support system-level testing and define thermal limits and margins to other subsystems.
• Mentor junior thermal engineers and serve as the technical go-to for instrument thermal.

Skills

Thermal engineering experience

Full-spacecraft thermal balance

TVAC testing experience

Thermal-mechanical interfaces

Python scripting

Education

B.S. or higher in Mechanical, Aerospace, Physics, or related field

Tools

Python

Matlab

Job description

Muon Space is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer to own instrument-level thermal engineering across missions, including models, hardware, and verification end-to-end, while contributing to spacecraft-level thermal balance.

The position is hybrid and requires on-site work at our San Jose, CA office three days per week, enabling collaboration across disciplines to land elegant, balanced designs.