Thermal Engineer: Electronics Cooling for Defense Tech

Praxy; Costa Mesa, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 129,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits

Job summary

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA is seeking a Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design of electronics across air vehicles, maritime, ground systems, and wearables. You will apply first-principles analysis, perform hand calcs and MATLAB/Python models, and define heat-rejection paths to keep components within limits.

You will collaborate with electrical and mechanical teams to characterize power dissipation, perform FEA/CFD work, and drive trade studies balancing margin with size, weight,

Qualifications

• MS or higher in mechanical/aerospace engineering, applied physics, or related field with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics.
• 2–4 years of experience in thermal design, analysis, or testing for electronics or integrated hardware.
• Familiarity with electronics cooling concepts: TIMs, heat sinks, heat pipes, enclosures.
• Experience with thermal testing: sensor selection, data acquisition, data post-processing.
• Experience with at least one thermal FEA/CFD tool (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS, Icepak, FloEFD, COMSOL).
• CAD experience with Siemens NX, SolidWorks or equivalent.
• Preference for Python/MATLAB for thermal analysis and trade studies.

Responsibilities

• Own the thermal design and analysis of electronics from board level to enclosures across multiple platforms.
• Define thermal architecture and heat-rejection paths to meet junction and touch-temperature limits.
• Establish operating conditions for aerospace, maritime, ground systems, and wearables.
• Work with E&M and systems engineers to characterize power dissipation and drive trade studies.
• Develop and execute prototype builds and tests to verify thermal designs.
• Present thermal status in internal reviews and with customers.

Skills

Heat transfer

Fluid dynamics

Thermal design

Electronics cooling

Data acquisition

Python/MATLAB

Communication

Education

MS or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Applied Physics 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 electronics across air vehicles, maritime, ground systems, and wearables. You will apply first-principles analysis, perform hand calcs and MATLAB/Python models, and define heat-rejection paths to keep components within limits.

You will collaborate with electrical and mechanical teams to characterize power dissipation, perform FEA/CFD work, and drive trade studies balancing margin with size, weight,