Staff Thermal Engineer, Hypersonic Air Vehicles

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

Staff Thermal Engineer, Hypersonic Air Vehicles

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Thermal Engineering team's work is essential to support our rapidinnovation cycle and maintain the performance and reliability of advanceddefense technologies. Thermal Engineers own the full development life cyclefrom conceptual design through ground testing and flight test analysis, ensuringhigh-performance, resilient systems that meet the demands of complex, contestedenvironments.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles at conceptual,preliminary, and detailed design maturities
• Define thermal system architectures and material selection strategies forvehicles 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 testfacilities
• 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, technicalreports)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• MS or higher degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, orApplied Physics with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics
• In-depth understanding of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and high-temperatureenvironments
• 15+ years of experience in 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 FEAthermal 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
• Passion for defending the United States and her allies
• Ability to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience with material response modeling in extreme thermal environments
• Knowledge of material degradation and surface phenomena under demandingconditions
• Experience with specialized thermal ground test facilities
• Experience with chemical kinetics and finite-rate chemistry modeling
• Flight test experience including instrumentation design and post-flight analysis
• Experience with thermal-structural analysis codes (NASTRAN, Abaqus, ANSYSMechanical)
• Material characterization experience at elevated temperaturesExperience with manufacturing and assembly of thermal systems
• Active U.S. security clearance

US Salary Range

$191,000 - $275,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits .