Thermal Engineer

Astranis Space Technologies Corp.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Significant equity

Healthcare

Disability and life insurance

401(k) retirement planning

Flexible PTO

Free on-site catered meals

Job summary

Astranis Space Technologies Corp. is seeking a Thermal Engineer to design, evaluate, and test thermal solutions for spacecraft, from chips to full systems. The role requires hands-on testing, strong problem-solving, and experience with CAD in a fast-paced hardware development environment.

You will perform thermal analyses, develop integrated thermal solutions, and lead vacuum testing to ensure mission readiness, with opportunities to work on diverse spacecraft components and systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in engineering or physics required.
• 2+ years in a thermal/mechanical role required.
• Proficiency with mechanical CAD required.
• Experience with Thermal Desktop and ANSYS is a plus.
• Don't meet all criteria? Please apply anyway.

Responsibilities

• Mature designs through conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design phases using practical passive and active thermal control techniques.
• Support design trades balancing performance margins, resource use, risk, cost, and schedule.
• Perform thermal analysis to varying fidelity on hardware such as propulsion components, batteries, high powered electronics, RF components, mechanisms, and PCBs.
• Design, evaluate, procure and test thermal solutions such as heaters, heat pipes, TIMs, and surface coatings.
• Develop processes and procedures for integration and assembly to ensure thermal design intent is met; collaborate with the integration and test team.
• Plan and run thermal vacuum testing and verification at component and spacecraft level.

Skills

Problem solving

Hands-on testing

Fast-paced work

Education

Bachelor of Science in engineering or physics

Tools

Mechanical CAD

Thermal Desktop

ANSYS Mechanical

ANSYS IcePak

PCB design

Job description

Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity's reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe - large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military.

With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts. Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization.

Astranis has raised over $1.2 billion from some of the world's best investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Snowpoint, and employs a team of 500 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.

Thermal Engineer

As an Astranis Thermal Engineer, you will design, evaluate and test thermal solutions ranging from electronic chips to full spacecraft thermal vacuum tests. You must have a strong problem-solving background as well as hands-on testing skills. Experience with spacecraft or printed circuit board thermal mitigation are benefits but not required.

Role

• Mature designs through conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design phases using practical passive and active thermal control techniques
• 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; provide assistance with the installation of thermal hardware as needed
• Plan and run thermal vacuum testing and verification at the component and spacecraft level

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree in engineering or physics
• 2+ years of experience in a thermal/mechanical role
• Experience in thermal analysis and thermally-constrained design; computational thermal design experience (finite methods) is not required but highly preferred
• Proficiency with mechanical CAD
• A passion and enthusiasm for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands-on design and development
• Don't meet them all? Not a problem. Please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.

Bonus

• Experience with Thermal Desktop
• Experience with ANSYS Mechanical or ANSYS IcePak
• Experience with Electronics Packaging and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design
• Experience building and operating high vacuum systems
• Experience designing for a vacuum environment or environments with large temperature swings

What we offer:

All our positions offer a compensation package that includes equity and robust benefits.

Base pay is just one component of Astranis's total rewards package. Your compensation also includes a significant equity package via incentive stock options, high-quality company-subsidized healthcare, disability and life insurance, 401(k) retirement planning, flexible PTO, and free on-site catered meals.

Base Salary

$130,000 — $165,000 USD

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 products are built for everyone, regardless of gender, race, creed, or background. We believe in a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we invite all people to join our team and bring their unique perspectives to make us stronger.