Senior Thermal Systems Engineer

Jobtailor; Colorado; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor in United States (Colorado) is seeking a senior Systems Engineer specializing in thermal subsystems to translate high-level requirements into actionable specifications and drive interface control. You will lead V&V planning, support flight integration and environmental qualification, mentor engineers, and own passive thermal artifacts while coordinating with power, fluids, and GNC teams.

The role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration, rigorous design reviews, and adherence to

Qualifications

• B.S. in engineering and 10+ years of related experience.
• Strong systems engineering and requirements analysis skills.
• Proven ability in interface definition and verification across subsystems.
• Experience with flight integration and environmental qualification.
• Knowledge of passive thermal hardware and thermal analysis.
• Proficiency with DOORS, Jama, MATLAB, Cameo, and Thermal Desktop.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and mentor engineers.

Responsibilities

• Define and decompose system-level requirements into actionable specs for the thermal subsystem.
• Develop and maintain ICDs to ensure compatibility and integration fidelity.
• Conduct system analyses and trade studies to optimize performance, reliability and cost.
• Plan verification and validation activities including environmental testing and simulations.
• Lead passive hardware design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR) to meet quality standards.
• Support integration, test, and launch operations and resolve anomalies.
• Manage schedules for subsystem engineering efforts and coordinate make-vs-buy decisions.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote technical excellence and cross-functional collaboration.
• Own passive thermal artifacts such as master equipment lists and safety documents.
• Ensure alignment of thermal data with interfacing subsystems (Electrical Power, Liquids, Gas, GNC).
• Review CONOPS and translate into usable datasets for thermal teams.
• Verify designs against documented hardware temperature limits.

Skills

Systems engineering

Requirements analysis

Interface definition

Verification & validation

Flight integration

Environmental testing

Passive thermal hardware

Thermal analysis

Team mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

DOORS

Jama

MATLAB

Cameo

Thermal Desktop

Job description

• Define and decompose system-level requirements into actionable specifications within the Thermal subsystem domain.
• Develop and maintain interface control documents (ICDs) to ensure subsystem compatibility and integration fidelity.
• Conduct system analysis and trade studies to optimize thermal subsystem performance, reliability, and cost across mission profiles.
• Drive verification and validation planning, including environmental testing, functional checks, and mission simulations.
• Lead passive hardware design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR) and ensure technical artifacts meet quality and compliance standards.
• Support integration, test, and launch operations, including anomaly resolution and post-launch analysis.
• Support schedule management of subsystem systems engineering efforts and products, team coordination, and support make vs buy decisions, hardware procurement, and vendor management.
• Mentor junior engineers and foster a culture of technical excellence and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ownership of passive thermal artifacts such as the master equipment list, power equipment list, safety products and other documents.
• Ensuring alignment and synchronization of thermal subsystem analysis data with interfacing subsystems such as Electrical Power, Liquids, Gas and GNC.
• Reviewing system level CONOPS information and distilling into useable datasets for consumption by the thermal analysis and passive thermal hardware teams.
• Verifying compliance of designs against documented hardware temperature limits.

Requirements

• Minimum of a B.S. degree in engineering and 10+ years of related experience.
• Knowledge of systems engineering practices, integration processes, design for manufacturing, and quality control
• Proven expertise in requirement analysis, interface definition, and component and system-level verification and validation.
• Demonstrated experience with flight integration and environmental qualification (thermal, vibration, etc.).
• Strong understanding of subsystems and their thermal implications across the mission lifecycle.
• Background in passive thermal control hardware or thermal analysis.
• Demonstrated experience with spacecraft thermal control hardware design and development
• Ability to perform simple thermal assessments via first principles/hand calculations
• Experience with software tools such as DOORS, Jama, MATLAB, Cameo, Thermal Desktop etc. design and analysis tools.
• Demonstrated experience working interface control.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in systems engineering practices, particularly in thermal subsystem analysis, design, and integration. Proven ability to lead verification and validation efforts while mentoring junior engineers and managing cross-functional collaboration.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Systems Engineering Practices
• Thermal Subsystem Analysis
• Verification And Validation
• Passive Thermal Control Hardware
• Flight Integration And Environmental Qualification

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Requirement Analysis
• Interface Definition
• Component Verification
• System-Level Verification
• Thermal Assessments
• Design For Manufacturing
• Quality Control

Soft Skills

• Mentoring
• Team Coordination
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

Industry Keywords

• Thermal Subsystem
• Integration Processes
• Environmental Testing
• Mission Simulations
• Anomaly Resolution

Tools & Technologies

• DOORS
• Jama
• MATLAB
• Cameo
• Thermal Desktop