Senior Thermal Engineer - Expeditionary AI/HPC Data Centers

Anduril Industries, Inc.; Costa Mesa, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 146,000 - 194,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries, Inc. in Costa Mesa, CA, seeks a Senior Thermal Engineer to own the thermal management of expeditionary AI/HPC data centers—air- and liquid-cooling, modular, transportable compute for forward operating locations.

You will apply heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and HVAC knowledge to keep high-density compute reliable in austere environments with limited power, leading design, testing, and field validation efforts.

Qualifications

• MS or higher in mechanical engineering, applied physics, or related field focused on heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and HVAC.
• In-depth understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics.
• 5+ years designing thermal management systems for data centers or comparable mission-critical infrastructure.
• Full-spectrum data center thermal experience—air-side and water-side cooling, heat rejection, chilled water plant design, power density management, and liquid cooling.
• Steady-state and transient system modeling of thermal management systems, including HVAC and refrigerant simulations.
• Validating and testing data center thermal equipment, with knowledge of applicable operating standards.
• Track record of staying abreast of the latest data center thermal management technologies.
• CAD experience with Siemens NX or SolidWorks.

Responsibilities

• Own the thermal design and analysis of deployable data center cooling systems—air-side and water-side cooling, heat rejection, chilled water plant, and liquid cooling—from rack and chip level up through the full facility.
• Use first principles to discern the right level of analysis, running hand calcs, spreadsheets, and MATLAB/Python first-order models before detailed design.
• Define cooling architecture and heat-rejection strategy—CRAH/CRAC, air-side economization, chilled water plants, dry coolers, CDUs, rear-door heat exchangers, and direct-to-chip and immersion liquid cooling—to keep equipment within limits as power density scales.
• Develop cooling approaches for high-density racks and trade off air, liquid, and hybrid cooling for modular, transportable systems in austere, high-ambient environments.
• Work with electrical, mechanical, and facilities engineers to characterize IT and equipment heat loads across operating and failure modes.
• Weigh cooling architectures against reliability, efficiency (PUE/WUE), and total cost, driving trade studies that balance thermal margin with capital and operating cost.
• Own the thermal FEA/CFD and system models, predict facility performance, and set red/yellow limits for commissioning and operation.
• Lead prototype builds, field testing, commissioning, and operational validation of cooling designs (CAD, sensor and DAQ selection, data post-processing, results).
• Present thermal status at internal and customer reviews with a clear view of timelines and technical status.
• Develop internal tools to improve analysis effectiveness and efficiency.
• Support failure reviews and root-cause analysis with test data and thermal analysis.

Skills

Heat transfer

Fluid dynamics

HVAC design

Thermal modeling

Data center cooling

Thermal analysis

Education

MS in mechanical engineering or related field

Tools

Siemens NX

SolidWorks

Job description

Anduril Industries, Inc. in Costa Mesa, CA, seeks a Senior Thermal Engineer to own the thermal management of expeditionary AI/HPC data centers—air- and liquid-cooling, modular, transportable compute for forward operating locations.

You will apply heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and HVAC knowledge to keep high-density compute reliable in austere environments with limited power, leading design, testing, and field validation efforts.