Thermal Engineer - ECS for Aircraft & Avionics

Anduril; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 129,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Competitive benefits

Job summary

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA seeks a Thermal Engineer to own the thermal management and ECS of air vehicles and advanced defense platforms. You will apply heat transfer and fluid dynamics to keep avionics, payloads, and propulsion within limits across the mission envelope.

You will develop models (steady-state/transient), size heat exchangers, and lead prototype builds, testing, and validation while collaborating with avionics, propulsion, and power teams.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field
• Strong first-principles understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics
• Experience using thermal analysis, modeling, simulation, or data to drive design decisions
• Ability to communicate technical tradeoffs clearly across engineering and customer stakeholders
• Ability to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance

Responsibilities

• Own the thermal design and analysis of vehicle thermal management and ECS—air-cycle, ram-air, bleed-air, and liquid cooling loops.
• Develop steady-state and transient models of coolant, fuel, hydraulic, and lubrication circuits.
• Lead prototype builds, ground testing, and validation of thermal designs (CAD, DAQ, data post-processing).
• Present thermal status and tradeoffs at internal/customer reviews with timelines and status.
• Develop internal tools to improve analysis effectiveness and efficiency

Skills

First-principles heat transfer

Fluid dynamics

Communication skills

Clearance eligibility

Thermal analysis

Education

MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field

Tools

Simcenter Amesim

Simscape

GT-SUITE

MATLAB

Python

CAD (Siemens NX/SolidWorks)

Job description

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA seeks a Thermal Engineer to own the thermal management and ECS of air vehicles and advanced defense platforms. You will apply heat transfer and fluid dynamics to keep avionics, payloads, and propulsion within limits across the mission envelope.

You will develop models (steady-state/transient), size heat exchangers, and lead prototype builds, testing, and validation while collaborating with avionics, propulsion, and power teams.