Thermal Engineer, UAV Avionics – CFD, Cooling, Equity

Shield; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a Level 2 Thermal Engineer to own avionics thermal management for unmanned aircraft. You will develop and validate models, lead trade studies, and drive testing to align simulations with real-world results.

You will work in a fast-paced startup setting, collaborating across engineering disciplines while applying first principles to complex problems. Salary ranges reflect market rates and include bonus and benefits.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• Minimum 2 years in avionics or electronics thermal engineering.
• Strong heat transfer and fluid mechanics knowledge.
• Understanding of active and passive cooling integration.
• Experience with CFD tools and CAD for thermal design.

Responsibilities

• Own thermal solutions for unmanned aerial vehicle avionics including design, analysis, and test.
• Develop and validate analytical, numerical, and CFD models for heat transfer and fluid flow.
• Provide technical leadership in trade studies, system architecture decisions, and risk assessments.
• Drive test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experiments.
• Guide cross-disciplinary teams in applying thermal/fluid fundamentals.
• Communicate findings through design reviews and reports.
• Identify risks and influence design direction.

Skills

Heat transfer

CFD tools

CAD (NX/ SolidWorks)

First-principles reasoning

Communication skills

Education

B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

M.S. in a relevant engineering discipline

Tools

ANYSYS Icepak

FloEFD

STAR-CCM+

NX

SolidWorks

Job description

Shield AI seeks a Level 2 Thermal Engineer to own avionics thermal management for unmanned aircraft. You will develop and validate models, lead trade studies, and drive testing to align simulations with real-world results.

You will work in a fast-paced startup setting, collaborating across engineering disciplines while applying first principles to complex problems. Salary ranges reflect market rates and include bonus and benefits.