Thermal Design Engineer — Equity Options

Talanto; Costa Mesa, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 112,000 - 149,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril, a defense technology company in Costa Mesa, CA, seeks a Thermal Design Engineer to join the Thermal Engineering team. You will support thermal design and analysis for drones, aircraft, missiles, and related flight systems.

You will apply first-principles methods, build thermal models, and collaborate across disciplines to ensure robust performance in demanding environments. This early-career role offers growth into full ownership of thermal design challenges.

Qualifications

• MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field with a focus on heat transfer or thermal systems.
• Strong first-principles understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics, including conduction, convection, radiation and transient behavior.
• Coursework, research, or internship in thermal analysis, modeling, or testing.
• Experience with MATLAB, Python, or similar tools for engineering analysis.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to cross-functional teams.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Support thermal design and analysis for integrated hardware products including drones, aircraft, missiles, or related defense systems.
• Apply first-principles engineering judgment with hand calculations, spreadsheets, and MATLAB/Python models to inform design decisions.
• Build and maintain thermal FEA/CFD models to predict system performance and set design limits.
• Support prototype builds and thermal tests, including sensor selection and DAQ setup.
• Contribute to defining thermal architectures for rugged environments and mission-specific conditions.
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, aerospace, and systems engineers to document power dissipation and thermal constraints.
• Present results and recommendations in internal design reviews.
• Develop internal tools or workflows to improve speed and quality of thermal decisions.

Skills

Heat transfer

Fluid dynamics

MATLAB

Python

Communication

Education

MS in Mechanical Engineering / Aerospace Engineering / Applied Physics

Tools

STAR-CCM+

ANSYS

Icepak

Flotherm

SolidWorks

Siemens NX

Job description

Anduril, a defense technology company in Costa Mesa, CA, seeks a Thermal Design Engineer to join the Thermal Engineering team. You will support thermal design and analysis for drones, aircraft, missiles, and related flight systems.

You will apply first-principles methods, build thermal models, and collaborate across disciplines to ensure robust performance in demanding environments. This early-career role offers growth into full ownership of thermal design challenges.