Senior Spacecraft Thermal Analyst — Lead Modeling

K2 Space Corporation; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

K2 Space is seeking a thermal modeling and simulation lead to own the analysis predicting spacecraft temperatures across all mission phases. You will collaborate with Thermal Design Engineers, set modeling standards, and mentor junior analysts, with a focus on end-to-end analysis rather than hardware sizing.

Join a fast-paced space startup and help drive production transition, test stands, and data acquisition systems that inform design decisions and testing programs.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of thermal test experience in a high-rate manufacturing environment.
• 3+ years sizing and testing fluid systems including pumps, valves, accumulators, heat exchangers, cold plates.
• Demonstrated experience with data acquisition for thermal and power related applications.
• Experience with test plan development and execution.
• Strong experience with thermal and TVAC testing including setup, instrumentation, and troubleshooting.
• Demonstrated knowledge of NX or AutoCAD is preferred to design test fixtures.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end orbital thermal models via Thermal Desktop for the spacecraft bus from initial architecture through flight.
• Work with lead engineers to design active and passive thermal control systems using basic heat transfer and mechanical equations to size lines, pumps, accumulators, cold plates, etc.
• Lead steady-state and transient thermal analyses across the full worst-case hot/cold mission envelope, including degraded and off-nominal cases.
• Lead trade studies on thermal control architecture.
• Define and defend thermal margins at PDR/CDR-level design reviews; present findings directly to program leadership and customers.
• Drive correlation of thermal models against TVAC and thermal balance test data; lead root-cause investigation when predictions and test disagree.
• Set modeling standards and best practices for the analysis team; mentor junior/associate thermal analysts.
• Design and development of heater and cooling systems including control architecture.
• Setup, commission, and maintain state-of-the-art test stands and instrumentation.
• Develop data acquisition systems for active and passive thermal control systems.
• Perform tests on novel pump fluid loop including feed systems, power electronics, and hardware-in-the-loop.
• Develop testing and control scripts to conduct safe and reliable test campaigns of pump fluid loop and individual components.
• Own analysis documentation and verification closure packages for customer and internal reviews.

Skills

Thermal testing

Data acquisition

Test planning

Troubleshooting

NX/AutoCAD familiarity

Tools

NX

AutoCAD

Job description

K2 Space is seeking a thermal modeling and simulation lead to own the analysis predicting spacecraft temperatures across all mission phases. You will collaborate with Thermal Design Engineers, set modeling standards, and mentor junior analysts, with a focus on end-to-end analysis rather than hardware sizing.

Join a fast-paced space startup and help drive production transition, test stands, and data acquisition systems that inform design decisions and testing programs.