Thermal Engineer: Electronics Cooling for Aerospace & Defense

Anduril-1; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 129,000 - 171,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA is seeking a Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design of electronic assemblies across air vehicles, maritime, ground systems, and wearables. You will apply heat transfer and fluid dynamics expertise to ensure reliability in demanding environments.

The role requires hands-on experience with thermal analysis, FEA/CFD tools, and prototype testing, with collaboration across electrical, mechanical, and systems teams to balance performance, size, weight, and

Qualifications

• MS or higher degree with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics.
• Deep understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics fundamentals.
• 2–4 years of experience in thermal design, analysis, or testing for electronics or integrated hardware products (graduate research counts).
• Familiarity with electronics cooling concepts — TIMs, heat sinks, heat pipes, enclosures.
• Exposure to thermal testing — sensor selection, data acquisition, and data post-processing.

Responsibilities

• Own the thermal design and analysis of electronics—from board and component level up through enclosures and full assemblies.
• Use first principles, hand calculations, spreadsheets, and MATLAB/Python first-order models to inform the path forward.
• Define thermal architecture and heat-rejection paths to keep components within limits across environments.
• Establish hot, cold, and edge-case operating conditions for each platform based on standards and use cases.
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and systems engineers to characterize power dissipation.
• Present thermal status at reviews internally and with customers; communicate timelines and status clearly.
• Develop internal tools to improve analysis efficiency.
• Support failure reviews and root-cause analysis with test data and thermal analysis.

Skills

Heat transfer fundamentals

Fluid dynamics fundamentals

Thermal design

Data post-processing

Python/MATLAB

Education

MS in mechanical or aerospace engineering (or related field)

Tools

STAR-CCM+

ANSYS

Icepak

FloEFD

COMSOL

Siemens NX

SolidWorks

Job description

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA is seeking a Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design of electronic assemblies across air vehicles, maritime, ground systems, and wearables. You will apply heat transfer and fluid dynamics expertise to ensure reliability in demanding environments.

The role requires hands-on experience with thermal analysis, FEA/CFD tools, and prototype testing, with collaboration across electrical, mechanical, and systems teams to balance performance, size, weight, and