Senior Thermofluids Engineer - Heat Exchanger Lead & CFD

Approach Venture; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Medical insurance

On‑site amenities

Job summary

Approach Venture is seeking a Senior Thermofluids Engineer in Hawthorne, CA to own the thermal‑fluid design of the heat‑exchange hardware central to next‑gen power systems. You will drive 3D CFD analyses, lead CAD iterations, and coordinate with suppliers through design reviews, manufacturing, and testing.

The role requires hands‑on work from analysis to fabrication and validation under high temperature and pressure conditions, with close collaboration across cycle, mechanical, and test teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in mechanical or aerospace engineering.
• Hands‑on experience with 3D CFD for thermal‑fluid hardware design.
• Experience with conjugate heat transfer, internal flows, and pressure‑drop analysis.
• Strong CAD experience to independently create and modify detailed hardware.
• Experience translating CFD results into geometry changes and testing.

Responsibilities

• Own thermal‑fluid design for the system's recuperation and heat‑transfer hardware.
• Lead 3D CFD analysis for flow distribution, heat transfer, and pressure loss.
• Build and iterate CAD models of heat exchangers, manifolds, headers, and passages.
• Translate CFD results into mechanical design changes.
• Size heat exchangers using NTU, effectiveness, and pressure‑drop analyses.
• Develop channel, core, header, and manifold geometries for even flow.
• Predict performance across nominal, transient, and off‑design conditions.
• Coordinate with suppliers through design reviews, manufacturing, and testing.
• Support hardware assembly, instrumentation, testing, and model‑to‑test correlation.
• Improve CFD models based on test results for future iterations.

Skills

CFD analysis

Heat‑exchanger design

CAD modeling

Thermal‑fluid design

Conjugate heat transfer

System‑level design

Supplier coordination

High‑temp/pressure hardware

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering

Tools

CAD

3D CFD software

Job description

Approach Venture is seeking a Senior Thermofluids Engineer in Hawthorne, CA to own the thermal‑fluid design of the heat‑exchange hardware central to next‑gen power systems. You will drive 3D CFD analyses, lead CAD iterations, and coordinate with suppliers through design reviews, manufacturing, and testing.

The role requires hands‑on work from analysis to fabrication and validation under high temperature and pressure conditions, with close collaboration across cycle, mechanical, and test teams.