Thermal Engineer: End-to-End Spacecraft & Launch Vehicle

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking a Thermal Engineer to own end-to-end thermal design for Falcon, Dragon and Starfall programs in Hawthorne, CA. You will drive sizing, CAD/build integration, and validation against ground tests and on-orbit data, influencing materials, coatings, insulation, and TCS architecture.

Experience with Thermal Desktop, ANSYS Workbench, and reduced-order modeling will be highly valued, along with strong communication skills and the ability to work under aggressive schedules.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline is required.
• 1+ years of experience using programming languages including Python, MATLAB, and EES.

Responsibilities

• Own the thermal design of spacecraft, launch-vehicle, and component hardware end-to-end: from concept through CAD/build to validation against ground test, flight, and orbital data.
• Translate thermal analysis into design decisions — materials, coatings, insulation, interfaces, heater and TCS architecture.
• Automate workflows to cut engineering investment in the design cycle.
• Pursue performance and robustness improvements in hardware.
• Support operational simplicity and reduce burden on other groups at SpaceX.
• Produce quality documentation of your work.

Skills

Python

MATLAB

EES

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

Thermal Desktop

ANSYS Workbench

FIAT

Sinda/Fluint

FUN3D

DPLR

US3D

Pointwise

StarCCM+

Job description

SpaceX is seeking a Thermal Engineer to own end-to-end thermal design for Falcon, Dragon and Starfall programs in Hawthorne, CA. You will drive sizing, CAD/build integration, and validation against ground tests and on-orbit data, influencing materials, coatings, insulation, and TCS architecture.

Experience with Thermal Desktop, ANSYS Workbench, and reduced-order modeling will be highly valued, along with strong communication skills and the ability to work under aggressive schedules.