Thermal Associate Engineer (Fall 2026)

Astranis; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 77,952 - 97,222; Full time

Job summary

Pow.bio is looking for a Thermal Engineer Associate for Fall 2026 in San Francisco, CA. The role involves designing, analyzing, building, and testing satellite hardware and software, alongside performing thermal analysis on critical components. Ideal candidates should have a four-year degree in a relevant field and a passion for hardware development. The position offers a competitive salary of $1,925 per week, requiring U.S. citizenship or equivalent status.

Qualifications

• Have a four-year degree in mechanical, aerospace, or equivalent technical degree.
• A passion and enthusiasm for hardware development in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to personally design, build, and test hardware from scratch.

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, build, and test satellite hardware and/or software.
• Perform thermal analysis on hardware such as batteries, electronics, and PCBs.
• Plan and run thermal vacuum testing and verification.

Skills

Passion for hardware development

Hands-on design and development

Thermal analysis

Design and build hardware

Education

Four-year degree in mechanical, aerospace, or equivalent

Tools

CAD

ANSYS

Thermal Desktop

Job description

Thermal Engineer Associate (Fall 2026)

Associate Engineer positions typically last for twelve weeks, and are salaried roles designed for students who have already received a bachelor's degree (or who will have done so before working at Astranis).

As an Associate Engineer, you will have an amazing opportunity to work on hard problems — we pride ourselves on giving everyone at Astranis a chance to do meaningful work on complex projects, and our Associate Engineers work on projects that are of equal importance and difficulty to the projects we give our full-time employees. Many past Associate Engineers have designed and tested hardware/software that is heading to space on our first satellite, and many now work at Astranis full-time.

If you are still a college student, please apply to join us as an Intern.

Role

• Work together with the engineering team to design, analyze, build, and test satellite hardware and/or software.
• Support design trades that successfully balance performance margins, resource use, risk, cost, and schedule.
• Perform thermal analysis to varying degrees of fidelity (simplified to detailed) on a variety of different types of hardware such as propulsion components, batteries, high powered electronics, RF components, mechanisms, and printed circuit boards (PCBs).
• Design, evaluate, procure and test thermal solutions such as heaters, heat pipes, thermal interface materials, and surface coatings.
• Develop processes and procedures for integration and assembly which ensure thermal design intent is met. Collaborate with the integration and test team in the installation of thermal hardware as needed.
• Plan and run thermal vacuum testing and verification at the component and spacecraft level.

Requirements

• Have a four-year degree in mechanical, aerospace, or equivalent technical degree (e.g. physics or applied math)
• A passion and enthusiasm for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands‑on design and development
• Demonstrated ability to personally design, build, and test hardware from scratch.
• Don't meet them all? Not a problem. Please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.

Bonus

• Experience with CAD
• Experience with analytical software thermal analysis such as ANSYS and Thermal Desktop
• Experience with electronics systems design and packaging
• Experience (projects or previous internships) related to aerospace

The base salary for this position is $1,925 per week.

U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required

(To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))

Our mission and our products are meant to connect the world and everyone in it, regardless of gender, race, creed, or any other distinction. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we encourage all people to join our team and bring their unique perspective to help make us stronger.