Thermal Engineer – Spacecraft Radiators & Simulation Lead

Array Labs; Redwood City (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Array Labs seeks a Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design of radar satellites and payloads, from architecture to flight verification. You will lead the in-house thermal simulation framework, extend it as needed, and work with RF, electrical, mechanical, and systems engineers to ensure on-orbit performance.

You will define heat rejection architectures, design radiators and conduction paths, and run thermal vacuum campaigns to validate designs for a high-impact, real-time earth observation

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Physics, or STEM discipline.
• 3+ years of hardware experience in thermally constrained products.
• Strong Python coding and experience extending engineering analysis tools.
• Hands-on experience building, instrumenting, and testing thermal hardware.
• Solid grounding in heat transfer fundamentals.
• Excellent teamwork and communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, iterative design environment.

Responsibilities

• Define spacecraft and payload thermal architecture, including radiator sizing and conduction paths.
• Own, extend, and validate in-house Python thermal simulation framework for design decisions.
• Support board- and component-level thermal design with EE/RF engineers, including junction temp/derating analysis.
• Design, build, and test thermal hardware: radiators, interface materials, coatings, MLI, heaters, sensors.
• Plan and execute thermal vacuum and thermal balance test campaigns, correlate models to test/flight telemetry.
• Develop thermal requirements, interface control docs, and verification plans with systems engineering.

Skills

Python

Heat transfer

Thermal testing

Teamwork

Fast-paced work

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or STEM

Master's or Ph.D. preferred

Job description

Array Labs seeks a Thermal Engineer to own the thermal design of radar satellites and payloads, from architecture to flight verification. You will lead the in-house thermal simulation framework, extend it as needed, and work with RF, electrical, mechanical, and systems engineers to ensure on-orbit performance.

You will define heat rejection architectures, design radiators and conduction paths, and run thermal vacuum campaigns to validate designs for a high-impact, real-time earth observation