Staff Hypersonic Thermal Engineer - Flight & Ground Testing

Anduril Industries, Inc.; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 191,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Health benefits

Retirement plan

Job summary

Anduril Industries, Inc. is seeking a Staff Thermal Engineer to lead thermal design and analysis for hypersonic air vehicle programs. You will drive system architectures, perform CFD/FEA analyses, and model material responses to inform design decisions, collaborating with aerodynamics, structures, and electrical teams.

The role requires extensive experience in aerospace thermal engineering, Python/MATLAB tool development, and the ability to obtain a U.S. Top Secret clearance.

Qualifications

• MS or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Applied Physics with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics.
• In-depth understanding of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and high-temperature environments.
• 15+ years of aerospace thermal engineering on rocket, aircraft, or missile programs.
• Experience with thermal analysis in high-speed flight regimes.
• Thermal analysis experience using CFD (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent) and/or FEA thermal solvers.
• Experience with thermal-structural coupling.
• Ground testing experience with thermal instrumentation and data acquisition.
• Strong programming skills in MATLAB, Python, or similar for tool development.
• Experience preparing formal documentation.
• CAD experience with SolidWorks or Siemens NX.
• Ability to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance.
• Passion for defending the United States and her allies.

Responsibilities

• Thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles at conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design maturities.
• Define thermal system architectures and material selection strategies for vehicles operating in demanding flight environments.
• Thermal analysis of flight vehicles using CFD, FEA, and engineering methods.
• Material response modeling under combined thermal and mechanical loads.
• Transient thermal analysis for time-varying mission profiles.
• Ground test planning, execution, and analysis in specialized thermal test facilities.
• Flight test planning, execution, and post-flight thermal data analysis.
• Use first principles and MATLAB/Python models to inform design decisions.
• Collaborate with aerodynamics, structures, electrical, and systems engineers on integrated solutions.
• Present thermal status at formal reviews internally and with customers.
• Prepare formal documentation (specifications, test procedures, technical reports).

Skills

CFD (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent)

FEA thermal solvers

MATLAB

Python

Thermal analysis

Heat transfer

Fluid dynamics

SolidWorks

Siemens NX

Documentation

Tool development

Education

MS or higher in Aerospace Eng, Mechanical Eng, or Applied Physics (heat transfer & fluid dynamics)

Tools

STAR-CCM+

ANSYS Fluent

NASTRAN

Abaqus

ANSYS Mechanical

SolidWorks

Siemens NX

Job description

Anduril Industries, Inc. is seeking a Staff Thermal Engineer to lead thermal design and analysis for hypersonic air vehicle programs. You will drive system architectures, perform CFD/FEA analyses, and model material responses to inform design decisions, collaborating with aerodynamics, structures, and electrical teams.

The role requires extensive experience in aerospace thermal engineering, Python/MATLAB tool development, and the ability to obtain a U.S. Top Secret clearance.