Senior UAV Thermal Systems Engineer

Shield; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Staff (L4) Aircraft Thermal Systems Engineer to own thermal analysis, design, and vehicle integration for a Group 5 UAV fighter aircraft. You will build thermal environments, develop models, and design cooling solutions to rapidly move concepts into production hardware.

The role requires an active clearance and 7–12 years in aerospace thermal engineering, with hands-on CFD/thermal analysis and CAD tool proficiency.

Qualifications

• Active secret or higher clearance required.
• 7–12 years of aerospace thermal engineering experience.
• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• Deep mastery of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics.
• Proficiency with first-principles calculations, CFD or thermal-analysis tools.
• Experience designing active and passive cooling for aircraft.
• 3D CAD layout and drawing release with NX/CATIA/Creo/SolidWorks.
• Sourcing aerospace components and leading supplier execution.
• Ability to self-direct and deliver hardware under tight timelines.

Responsibilities

• Define and mature aircraft-level thermal environments and thermal management solutions for vehicle bays, hot surfaces, and other installations.
• Perform first-principles heat transfer and fluid mechanics calculations; develop analytical, finite-difference, and CFD models.
• Design and evaluate active and passive cooling solutions, including heat-rejection paths and hardware.
• Develop thermal hardware layouts and CAD models; resolve interfaces with structures and avionics.
• Define qualification and verification test plans and support instrumentation and data acquisition.
• Author technical specifications and statements of work for thermal hardware; evaluate suppliers.

Skills

US Clearance

Aerospace thermodynamics

First-principles modeling

CFD/thermal analysis

CAD/PLM skills

Supplier execution

Autonomy

Education

B.S./M.S. in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Tools

FloEFD

STAR-CCM+

Thermal Desktop

Siemens NX

CATIA

Creo

SolidWorks

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Staff (L4) Aircraft Thermal Systems Engineer to own thermal analysis, design, and vehicle integration for a Group 5 UAV fighter aircraft. You will build thermal environments, develop models, and design cooling solutions to rapidly move concepts into production hardware.

The role requires an active clearance and 7–12 years in aerospace thermal engineering, with hands-on CFD/thermal analysis and CAD tool proficiency.