Senior Space Thermal Engineer – Lead Design & On‑Orbit Ops

Gravitics; Seattle, Denver, Houston (WA, CO, TX); On-site; USD 145,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company equity

Medical benefits

401(k) retirement plan

Generous PTO

Employee discounts

Job summary

Gravitics in the Greater Seattle Area is seeking a seasoned Staff Thermal Engineer to own thermal design and integration for orbital structures, from concept through on-orbit operations, including interfaces with internal and external customers.

You will mentor junior engineers, lead design reviews, contribute to proposals, and drive test campaigns using Thermal Desktop, Simcenter, and NX, with hands-on data acquisition and a passion for space-grade reliability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• 9+ years of post-baccalaureate thermal design, analysis, test, and troubleshooting experience.
• Extensive space industry experience designing thermal systems from concept through manufacturing, test, and deployment.

Responsibilities

• Own thermal design and integration for orbital structures, from concept through on-orbit operations.
• Write and maintain system architectures, requirements documents, and development roadmaps.
• Perform component selection and coarse and detailed thermal analysis.
• Manage thermal interface requirements for internal teams and external customers.
• Supervise contract or in-house manufacturing of thermal hardware.
• Design and support test and qualification campaigns including thermal chamber testing.
• Present work products confidently at engineering design reviews to internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to proposals, funding opportunities, and research initiatives.
• Mentor junior engineers and actively develop team capabilities.

Skills

Communication skills

Team mentorship

Written communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

Tools

Thermal Desktop

Siemens Simcenter

Siemens NX

Data acquisition instrumentation

Job description

Gravitics in the Greater Seattle Area is seeking a seasoned Staff Thermal Engineer to own thermal design and integration for orbital structures, from concept through on-orbit operations, including interfaces with internal and external customers.

You will mentor junior engineers, lead design reviews, contribute to proposals, and drive test campaigns using Thermal Desktop, Simcenter, and NX, with hands-on data acquisition and a passion for space-grade reliability.