Senior Thermal Engineer – Space Phased-Array

blueorigin; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 157,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

Blue Origin in Seattle, WA is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design for satellite phased array payloads and ground terminal arrays. You will build transient thermal models, drive interface design, and define duty-cycle limits for a high-rate production program.

The role requires 8+ years in aerospace thermal engineering, hands-on modeling with Thermal Desktop or SINDA/FLUINT, and experience with vacuum and radiation heat transfer.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or related field.
• 8+ years in thermal engineering for aerospace, RF systems, or high‑power‑density electronics.
• Spaceborne thermal design experience: vacuum, radiation heat transfer, flight hardware qualification.
• Strong grasp of phased array thermal challenges — dense front‑end integration, high areal power density, and the coupling between junction temperature and RF efficiency.
• Proficiency with thermal modeling tools (Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, ANSYS Icepak, or equivalent), and the judgment to know when a hand calculation should bracket the model.
• Working knowledge of materials, coatings, and interface technologies for space and outdoor terrestrial hardware.
• Familiarity with environmental and qualification standards (NASA, ESA, MIL‑STD or similar).

Responsibilities

• Own thermal architecture for satellite phased array payloads — RF front ends, beamforming ICs, power electronics — and for ground terminal arrays.
• Build and run transient thermal models of dense multi-chip board stacks, from die junction out to structure and radiators.
• Drive the interface design that governs performance: mounting and preload, interface materials and bondlines, heat pipes, spreaders, thermal storage.
• Define the duty‑cycle and operational limits the constellation flies to, working with operations and planning teams so thermal constraints show up as capacity rather than surprises.
• Run architecture-level trades and quantify what each buys in degrees, kilograms, and dollars per unit.
• Set requirements, margins, and verification plans; execute thermal test articles and correlate models to test.
• Design for a high-rate production line. A solution that works once but can't be built repeatably at takt isn't a solution here.
• Mentor engineers and help establish how thermal engineering is practiced on a fast-scaling program.

Skills

Thermal design

Thermal modeling

System trades

Mentoring teams

Cross-functional collab

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's or PhD (preferred)

Tools

Thermal Desktop

SINDA/FLUINT

ANSYS Icepak

Job description

Blue Origin in Seattle, WA is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design for satellite phased array payloads and ground terminal arrays. You will build transient thermal models, drive interface design, and define duty-cycle limits for a high-rate production program.

The role requires 8+ years in aerospace thermal engineering, hands-on modeling with Thermal Desktop or SINDA/FLUINT, and experience with vacuum and radiation heat transfer.