Senior Thermal Engineer - Defense Hardware & CFD/FEA Lead

Calance; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Calance is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer in Costa Mesa, CA to own thermal design and analysis for advanced defense hardware across drones, aircraft, missiles, and related flight systems.

You will apply first-principles reasoning to determine the right level of analysis—from hand calculations to FEA/CFD—and work with electrical, mechanical, aerospace, software, and systems engineers to ensure robust thermal architectures for rugged environments and demanding flight envelopes.

Qualifications

• Must have strong heat transfer and fluid dynamics fundamentals.
• Experience with thermal analysis, modeling, and testing.
• Proven ability to use first-principles reasoning to guide design decisions.

Responsibilities

• Own thermal design and analysis for drones, aircraft, missiles, or related defense systems.
• Develop and maintain thermal FEA/CFD models to predict performance.
• Define thermal architectures for rugged environments and extreme flight envelopes.
• Document power dissipation, operating modes, and design tradeoffs with cross-functional teams.
• Execute prototype builds and thermal tests, including sensor selection and data processing.
• Present findings and recommendations in design reviews and customer-facing sessions.
• Develop reusable analysis tools and workflows to improve speed and consistency.

Skills

Heat transfer

Fluid dynamics

Thermal analysis

FEA/CFD

MATLAB

Python

CAD tools

Education

MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

STAR-CCM+

ANSYS

Icepak

Flotherm

MATLAB

Python

SolidWorks / NX

Job description

Calance is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer in Costa Mesa, CA to own thermal design and analysis for advanced defense hardware across drones, aircraft, missiles, and related flight systems.

You will apply first-principles reasoning to determine the right level of analysis—from hand calculations to FEA/CFD—and work with electrical, mechanical, aerospace, software, and systems engineers to ensure robust thermal architectures for rugged environments and demanding flight envelopes.